Re/Creating Tampa
Across the Tampa Blogosphere: December 17, 2011
Between the Bits is closing his bank account and moving to a credit union.
“Basically, too many banks have decided that their customer is the shareholder, not the people who put their trust and money into the bank.”
Check out his other meditations on the current state of banks: Bank Transfer Day Danger: Leverage, and Don’t blame the poor, poor bankers!
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Stogie posted this great short documentary from City of Tampa Television: Drive By History.
“These Drive By History programs highlight areas in Tampa of historic significance. This video includes features on the Sulphur Springs Water Tower, the Beach Park Gateway, and the Tampa Bay Hotel. This special was produced by Brian Sullivan and was originally run on City of Tampa Television (CTTV) in December, 2011.”
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Thanks to Mike Lortz for mentioning my recent publication!
I’m not the only person putting out a book this year. Check out The Bus Leagues Experience Vol 2. This collection focuses on interviews with minor-league baseball players, but includes “in-depth conversations with writers, historians, fans, a broadcaster, and even a bus driver.” Clark Brooks (of RIToC) is also interviewed about his time with the Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League.
You might also want to pick up the first volume of The Bus Leagues Experience, or The Best of the Serious Tip.
The Bus Leagues would be an excellent Christmas gift for the baseball fan in your family.
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Tampasphere takes a look at Tampa commutes and concludes that the civic leaders of Tampa aren’t willing to do the heavy lifting necessary to improve commuting in Tampa.
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Art Taco reminds us that shopping at art galleries is a good way to find unique gifts that help the local economy and local artists.
“As we count down towards Christmas, the number of events is thinning, but remember that all the galleries are open and that art is a unique, hand-made, non-corporate gift, the kind people will appreciate and remember. There are works of every description, in every medium and style, ranging in prices from $20.00 up. So get out there and get a gift like no other.”
Krampusnacht in Ybor
Idea number 68 in Re/Creating Tampa: 101 Ideas for Making Tampa a Better City comes with its own short story to help build the myth of Krampus in Ybor.
I think Ybor should have its own Krampusnacht celebration in December, but technically there’s no connection between Ybor and Krampus. To solve this problem I invented a myth that has Krampus regularly visiting Ybor at the end of the nineteenth century.
Tampa already has the invented Jose Gaspar to serve as inspiration for the annual Gasparilla festivities, so I’m sowing seed in some already well-tilled ground.
You can read an earlier post about Krampusnacht here.
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068: Krampusnacht Celebration in Ybor
Tampa and Ybor City already have some great celebration events, from Gasparilla to Guavaween. Why not another? As far as I’m concerned, we need as many excuses to play dress-up and wander from bar to bar as we can find. To that end I recommend that Tampa adopt Krampusnacht as a local celebration.
Krampus is Santa’s evil twin and is celebrated in some Scandinavian countries. There’s almost no cultural reason for Tampa to adopt Krampusnacht, but that shouldn’t stop us from joining in on the fun and creating our own Krampus-by-the-bay legend. Just as community leaders created Gasparilla out of whole cloth, I give you . . .
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The Legend of Krampus in Ybor
Once upon a time Santa had a helper. Not like an elf working in the toy shop, or one of his reindeer, but someone who traveled with him and visited boys and girls around the world. His name was Krampus.
For many years Santa gave toys and treats to all the good little girls and boys, and Krampus gave coal to all the bad little children. Krampus wasn’t handsome and jolly like Santa but looked more like a scary monster. Sometimes he would frighten the children.
Santa and Krampus both felt it was important to remind bad little children that no good would come from their wickedness. There are no treats for the naughty.
And after Christmas both Santa and Krampus would take a vacation. Christmas is hard work!
For many years Krampus would take his vacation in Ybor City. Krampus loved palm trees, cigars, and the warm winter weather of Florida.
Though Krampus looked like a scary monster, he was good friends with Vicente Martinez Ybor, and Mr. Ybor always made sure his friend was welcome when he arrived. Even though Krampus looked scary, he never did really liked scaring the children. He did it because he hoped it would teach them to be good little boys and girls.
After Krampus’s first few visits, seeing that people were still afraid of him even though he was actually very nice and friendly, Mr. Ybor had an idea. If everybody looked like a monster, nobody would mind Krampus. And so began Krampusnacht in Ybor City.
In the week leading up to the day after Christmas, in addition to the Christmastime parties, Ybor began holding Krampus arrival parties. These parties were for grown-ups since it was good for children to remain scared of Krampus. At these parties everyone would wear their scariest masks and drink and smoke cigars in anticipation of Krampus’s arrival.
And then, when Krampus arrived on December 26, they’d hold a huge party to welcome him to Ybor City.
For many years Krampusnacht was famous in Ybor City for its revelry and fun. Some old-timers remember their parents talking about it, but very few people alive today remember Krampusnacht since children weren’t allowed to attend. If a child learned that Krampus was a nice and gentle old elf, he or she would never be afraid of him and wouldn’t stop doing naughty things throughout the year.
Eventually Krampus got tired of being the bad guy. While he still thought it was important to remind naughty children that their wicked ways would have consequences, it was hard for someone so kindly to be constantly scaring the children who actually delighted him so.
And so after a final Krampusnacht in 1919, Krampus decided to retire. He built a home in the Andes mountains, where he still lives today. He no longer scares children and secretly gives them many gifts of toys and candy.
After Krampus retired there were a few more years of parties, but they just weren’t the same without him, so they eventually stopped. Regardless, there are some of us who still believe we should celebrate Krampusnacht on the night after Christmas to remind us all that sometimes monsters aren’t as scary as they seem.
An Interview with Re/Creating Tampa Author David Davisson
Earlier this year Tampa Do-Gooder interviewed several Tampa-area bloggers for a report on local blogging. Unfortunately real life intervened and the interview project was temporarily put on hold.
I recently asked Dawn about getting a copy of the interview we did and she was kind enough to provide me with an mp3 file. The following interview has not been edited and so is a little raw and lacking in polish.
The interview was conducted at the beginning of June 2011. Listening to it I realize that at the time I was still wavering over whether to complete Re/Creating Tampa the book or not. (Soon afterwards I decided to complete the book and you can find a copy at the link.)
Thanks Dawn for sharing this interview! And thanks for doing the interviews! I hope you find the time in the next few months to put together the whole piece. I’m looking forward to it.
Politics Monday: I Want Some New Kind of Kick
Last week I actually wrote THREE different posts for Politics Monday, but ended up not running any of them. I wrote about the amateurish reporting at the St. Pete Times (I started to call it embarrassing, but they don’t seem embarrassed by their work), the cowardice of Mayor Bob Buckhorn, and the stunning willingness of our Congress to grant extra-legal powers to the Executive Office.
But, frankly, each of these topics is depressing, and it’s not the sort of thing I want to emphasize with Politics Monday.
I thought about doing a link round-up, but all the stories I read and the stories my friends send me are similar bummers.
That means this week I’m stumped. I need some new kind of kick. During the early summer I went through a similar politics burn-out and just put PM on hiatus for a month or so. I’m thinking this time I need a special series to focus on for the next few weeks. Any suggestions?
Syndicated Sunday: December 11, 2011
If there’s anything you’d like to see appearing regularly on Syndicated Sunday, let me know by email or in the comments.
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BOOK REVIEWS
If you prefer audiobooks check out LibriVox, a substantial collection of public domain audio books.
You can also download old time radio shows for free here.
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CARTOONS & HUMOR
Dan Piraro’s Bizarro Blog!
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Red Meat by Max Cannon
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow (December 05, 2011, “Class conflict”)
Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling
Toothpaste for Dinner by Drew
xkcd by Randall Munroe
Daryl Cagle’s Political Cartoonists Index
Know Your Meme covers the Best Memes of 2011.
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COLUMNS
Free Will Astrology by Rob Brezsny
News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd
Savage Love by Dan Savage (December 07, 2011, “The 23-Year Itch”)
The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams (December 09, 2011, “Why is there no blue food?”)
“Blue foods are rare because leaves are green. Work with me on this.”
Wikipedia’s Featured Article for December 02, 2011: the Macaroni Penguin (See the entire entry here.)
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MOVIE REVIEWS
AV Club: Film
Film Threat Reviews
Michael A. Smith at Crazed Fanboy reviews Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
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MUSIC REVIEWS
The AV Club Music
Undercover 2011 returns with a special Christmas music edition: Holiday Undercover 2011. Here’s Little Scream covering Velvet Underground’s song “Jesus.”
Little Scream covers “Jesus” by The Velvet Underground
CMJ Music Reviews – You can get CMJ’s free monthly download at their Facebook page (you probably have to “like” or “friend” them first).
Skyscraper Magazine Music Reviews
Suburban Apologist – Covering the Tampa Bay music scene.
Thanks to BB for pointing me to this gigantic compilation of end-of-the-year music best-of lists.
Across the Tampa Blogosphere: December 10, 2011
Tampania found this terrific documentary on Tampa skaters – The Bro Bowl: 30 years of Tampa concrete
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The Seminole Heights Sunday Market will be this Sunday, Dec. 11 on the lawn of Hillsborough High from 9am to 2pm.
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What is third wave coffee? If this sounds delicious (and it certainly tastes delicious) stop by Mojo Books and Music “the only third wave coffee place north of Kennedy.”
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Pedal America, a new PBS show on bicycling and community, visits Tampa.
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As I was researching my current writing project I discovered that USF archivist Tomaro Taylor walked a similar path in 2008. I’m in the process of translating Wen Galvez’s (Wenceslao Gálvez y del Monte) Tampa — Impresiones de un emigrado, an account of Ybor City and Tampa from the 1890s. You can read Tomaro’s translated excerpts at Cigar City Magazine.
“On Saturday nights, Franklin Street is a spectacle, as businesses stay open until rather late hours; some people go for walks, others for shopping, and those who carry packages resemble ants with their winter provisions. It is neither customary to haggle nor alter the price of goods, it being more common that each item’s price is indicated. In spite of this, you can be assured that each article that is worth fifteen cents can be acquired two for twenty-five, because the peseta plays a very important role here, to the extreme of which all that costs twenty-five cents does not sell easily. Thus exists Tampa’s shaky and staggering commerce.”
The Birdhouse Buying Club is Awesome
Congratulations to Ryan Iacovacci for winning the first Awesome Tampa Bay thousand dollar grant for the Birdhouse Buying Club.
The Birdhouse Buying Club acts as an intermediary between people who want to buy locally-produced fruits and vegetables and local organic growers.
“Our buying club is unique in that sense because we go directly to the farm and work with farms that meet our standards. We strive to build trust with our customers and we do that by inspecting the farms ourselves and being honest with our customers when it comes to fertilizers, pesticides, labor practices and such.
“We want to not just support our local farmers, but we want to educate our partners, like you, as much as we can about our farms here locally.”
Awesome Tampa Bay hands out $1,000 fellowships to home-grown projects they deem awesome.
If you have an awesome idea that could use a quick cash infusion their next deadline is Feb. 1, 2012.
Check out 83 Degrees for coverage, including info about the runners-up.
You can also read more at the Tampa Bay Times.
“Eve Walker came in second with her “Get Us Out of the House!” proposal to let parents of special-needs kids have a night out once a month while volunteers watch their kids.
“Roger Allen secured third place with “Tampa Vulturefest,” his vision of establishing an annual festival in downtown Tampa honoring the “much-maligned birdies,” complete with a buzzard statue to lead a parade.”
Syndicated Sunday: December 4, 2011
If there’s anything you’d like to see appearing regularly on Syndicated Sunday, let me know by email or in the comments.
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BOOK REVIEWS
Kirkus Reviews has their annual Best Of lists up. Here’s their recommendation for Best Teen Books of 2011.
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CARTOONS & HUMOR
Dan Piraro’s Bizarro Blog!
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Red Meat by Max Cannon
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow (November 28, 2011, “Rugged individualists”)
Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling
Toothpaste for Dinner by Drew
xkcd by Randall Munroe
Daryl Cagle’s Political Cartoonists Index
Via Miss Cellania (via Fark) -
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COLUMNS
Free Will Astrology by Rob Brezsny
News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd
Savage Love by Dan Savage (November 30, 2011, “Busted”)
The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams (December 02, 2011, “Is there a God (revisited)?”)
Wikipedia’s Featured Article for November 22, 2011: Blackbeard (See the entire entry here.)
“Edward Teach (c. 1680 – 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies. He was probably born in Bristol, but little is known about his early life. He may have served on privateer ships during Queen Anne’s War before he joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold, a pirate who operated from the Caribbean island of New Providence, and with whom he engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Teach renamed a captured merchant vessel as Queen Anne’s Revenge and became a renowned pirate, his nickname derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance; he was reported to have tied lit fuses under his hat to frighten his enemies. A shrewd and calculating leader, he avoided the use of force, relying instead on his fearsome image, and commanding his vessels with the permission of their crews. There are no known accounts of his ever having harmed or murdered those he held captive. Following his death on 22 November 1718, his image was romanticised, becoming the inspiration for a number of pirate-themed works of fiction across a range of genres.”
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MOVIE REVIEWS
AV Club: Film
Film Threat Reviews
Michael A. Smith at Crazed Fanboy reviews Shame.
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MUSIC REVIEWS
The AV Club Music
CMJ Music Reviews – You can get CMJ’s free monthly download at their Facebook page (you probably have to “like” or “friend” them first).
Skyscraper Magazine Music Reviews
Suburban Apologist – Covering the Tampa Bay music scene.
Thanks to BB for pointing me to this gigantic compilation of end-of-the-year music best-of lists.
Across the Tampa Blogosphere: December 3, 2011
Across the Tampa Blogosphere has been appearing (nearly) every Friday since January 8, 2010. A recent change in my work schedule, however, makes regular Friday posting problematic. And so, AtTB will now appear on Saturdays.
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Follow the Occupy Tampa movement at their webpage, blog, or (the most frequently updated) their Facebook page.
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Congratulations to NaNoWriMo winner Particia!
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That Girl Allie visits GrillSmith and gets some great shots of their entrees. I wish I were eating these Voodoo Cheese Fries right now.
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The Tampa Heights neighborhood blog is looking for writers. If you live in Tampa Heights and want to blog about your neighborhood, drop them an email.
“Check out Lee’s Grocery, newly opened in the hood with tasty pizzas and beers.
“Not in TH, but nearby, Microgroove Records is adding a music presence on the already up and coming stretch of Florida Ave. just south of Hillsborough.”
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The Arts Council of Hillsborough County has some grant money to disperse. Deadline for application is January 20, 2012.
“The Individual Artist Grants are awarded to experienced artists in the performing, visual, literary, dance and music disciplines for projects that will further the artist’s professional development. Previous grantees have used the award for artistic projects requiring film-making, publishing, equipment purchases, workshops and other endeavors that have taken their career or work to a higher level. Applicants must demonstrate project relevance in their applications.
“Candidates must be accomplished creative artists at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of Hillsborough County for 24 consecutive months preceding the deadline. Students pursuing any degree or fulltime faculty in higher education are ineligible.”
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H/T to That Girl Allie for the following image.
My sentiments exactly.