Twenty one murals are being created in downtown and midtown St. Pete as part of the second annual Shine Mural Festival and SPF16. Here are pictures of some of them in progress. You can get a map here. There is a big celebration this Saturday, 9/10, in the humungo parking lot on Central Avenue just east… Read more »
Hermine delayed the beginning of the second Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg, but artists made up for it all weekend long. Murals are being worked on at all hours. Here are some pictures of the progress, with information about the festival at the end of the post. Shine is part of a month long… Read more »
“It was Seattle circa 1984, I had an early version of Life Elsewhere on KCMU (now KEXP) radio. A teenage listener would call my show regularly, he’d say, “Can you play that Folk Devils record again? That young music fan went onto form his own band and a decade later he was a worldwide sensation, but sadly died… Read more »
“What would happen to the arts if this country turned to authoritarian leadership?” That is the opening line from a perceptive commentary in the Washington Post, authored by Philip Kennicott, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Art and Architecture Critic. Mr. Kennicott imagines with clever wit, what would happen to the Arts in America if Mr. Trump becomes… Read more »
Over the last century, the search for human ancestors has spanned four continents and resulted in the discovery of hundreds of fossils. While most of these discoveries live quietly in museum collections, there are a few that have become world-renowned celebrity personas – ambassadors of science that speak to public audiences. With wit and insight,… Read more »
“Two thousand years ago, an aristocratic Roman matron named Vistalia faced a trial for adultery. Vistalia was notorious for conducting multiple extramarital affairs, but her husband, Titidius Labeo, refused to divorce her. Eventually, the Emperor Tiberius himself accused her of adultery, a crime punishable by exile to a remote island. Vistalia responded to this charge… Read more »
The pageantry of the weird and the wonderful were in full regalia this weekend at the Tampa Bay Comic Con. The event coordinators are anticipating nearly 60,000 attendees to pass through the halls of the Tampa Bay Convention Center. Collectors, vendors, artists, celebrities, and cosplay enthusiasts came out to geek out and have some fun…. Read more »
Nothing had worked. Not threats or negotiations, not shutting down the betting parlors or opium dens, not house-to-house searches or throwing Chinese offenders into prison. Not even executing them. New York’s District Attorney was running out of ideas and more people were dying every day, as the weapons of choice evolved from hatchets and meat… Read more »
On Sunday, July 10, about 70 people marched from the Uhuru house in South St. Pete to the St. Petersburg Police station. Khalid Hameed is a St. Petersburg/Bradenton based photographer who finds his voice in pictures where people and their environment collide, dance, swoon and fight, You… Read more »
Sorcha Richardson, the extraordinarily talented Irish-born singer-songwriter is one of our favorite discoveries of the past year or so. So, we were especially delighted when a package arrived from Sorcha, containing a thumb-drive with a new song, beautiful limited edition artwork she has created and a hand-written, heart-felt letter. Here is an excerpt: The music that I’ve… Read more »
“May 21 rolls around again, and another year in my journey through life has passed,” says Norman B, referring to his birthday. “Looking back over the years,” he continues, “I’m fortunate to have wonderful memories, each with their own soundtrack!” In the next edition of Life Elsewhere, Norman B recalls the music that has made… Read more »
The PR package for Brian Cullman’s new album, The Opposite Of Time caught Norman B’s attention not only for the music, but also the extraordinary bio accompanying it. Brian’s story reads like a rock ’n’ roll fairy tale. He is was still a teenager when he bumped into Edie Sedgwick clad only in a bra… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160505_110618_radioactivityR1_191.MP3 By Rob Lorei On Radioactivity Thursday our guest is nature photographer Benjamin Dimmitt, whose recent work includes photographs of the examines the impact of saltwater intrusion on the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge just north of the Tampa Bay Area. Over the years rising sea levels, along with weak flow from nearby freshwater springs, has… Read more »
May 12 is the birthday of Ian Patrick ‘Mac’ McLagan. Just a week or so before Mac’s birthday in 2014, Norman B ran into his old art school friend at a prestigious charity event in Seattle. In the green room, backstage at the Experience Music Project Museum, the two silver-haired Londoners, chatted away, reminiscing and… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160429_110618_radioactivityF1_337.MP3 BY Rob Lorei On Radioactivity Friday we look at the life and legacy of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara. Jara was a well known musician, theater director, teacher and advocate for social justice in his home country, considered by many to be the Bob Dylan of Chile. During the US-backed Chilean coup of 1973, Jara… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160420_110618_radioactivityW1_189.MP3 By Rob Lorei Jose Yglesias is probably the most famous Tampa-born writer that most people have not heard of. Born into a Spanish-Cuban family of cigar workers in Ybor City, his work often dealt with Latin Americans who are exiled from their homelands and how revolutions affected their lives.Now his 1963 Novel, A Wake… Read more »
Dr. Julie Armstrong is in Birmingham, Alabama, her home town. She is blogging about following the official and unofficial Civil Rights trails through a town that starkly flaunts its contradictions. She had a wonderful surprise while following the trail yesterday, which led her farther afield, and yet right back to the beginning. Beautiful Freedom Surprise… Read more »
If you were told a book of 600 plus pages that jumps from fact to fiction to dream sequences and back again is all about a well-documented historical figure, you would be forgiven for being just a little bit skeptical about said book’s readability. Stephen O’Connor was not only aware of the possible pitfalls in writing… Read more »
A few weeks ago (2/26/16) we had a gaggle of locals (plus one outsider) on Art in Your Ear to talk about storytelling, and specifically, how we tell our own stories. Gina Moccio has started an event at Tempus Projects called Folklore, and people who actually get stuff done around Tampa come in and talk about it…. Read more »
Today on Midpoint, we talk with Sarasota-based musician John Sims, whose latest album the AfroDixie Remixes contains a reimagined versions of the American classic “I wish I was in Dixie”, a song written in the mid 1800’s by Daniel Decatur Emmett. It was once considered the anthem of the South, but is now considered offensive for its association… Read more »
Every year, as Valentine’s Day approaches, we have an earnest debate…is Valentine’s Day just another Hallmark card occasion? Are we obliged to get all sentimental and talk about LOVE? But, in true Life Elsewhere fashion, we always take a different angle. This time, we focus in on the word LOVE with acclaimed Creative Director, Robert… Read more »
After viewing Trump Rally, the skillfully produced documentary that zooms in on the people who believe Donald J. Trump should be the next President of the United States, it would be easy to mock and deride the enthusiastic fans of the bloviating billionaire. But Sean Dunne, the talented, youthful director of Trump Rally has a… Read more »
The two smiling, bespectacled and silver-haired chaps in the photo accompanying this post, was taken last year, on a mild sunny, winter’s day, in Hudson, upstate New York. The occasion was the first time Wreckless Eric and Norman B had met face to face. Fueled by many cups of espresso, their long animated conversation covered topics as diverse as the pitfalls… Read more »
John Lennon famously said, “Before Elvis there was nothing.” Lennon was correct, of course, which may have prompted David Bowie to remark, “Elvis was a major hero of mine. I was probably stupid enough to believe that having the same birthday as him actually meant something.” It is curious to remember that two of the most important and… Read more »
The inverted pyramid version of the St. Pete Pier was built in 1973, and was demolished in 2015. Todd writes, At long last, I’ve got my time-lapse of the St. Petersburg Pier demolition up. Over a 4-month span I shot 3960 50mp images to compile this video. It was quite the learning experience for me… Read more »
