SORT POSTS

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Farewell to Freedom

The Mystery Monkey has been captured.

Our furry friend said goodbye to his lifestyle of swinging through the trees of Boyd Hill and surrounding south St. Petersburg neighborhoods. A veterinarian and some Florida Fish and Wildlife officers shot a tranquilizer dart at the monkey, but the over fifty pound animal needed another one to put him to sleep. He is now going through disease testing and will then be moved to an exotic animal sanctuary. 

The wild Rhesus Macaque gained popularity through the years being mentioned on "The Colbert Report" and having his own Facebook page with over 86,000 fans. There are many ideas about the origin of the Mystery Monkey, but the most popular is that he was separated from a troop of Macaques who were here to film a "Tarzan" Movie a little over one hundred miles north of this area.





Saturday, September 1, 2012

Tonight at Fubar

DJ Brad Brains Psych/Garage Rock Spin w/ The Mother Machine

Colossal in St. Pete

The silver bullet is on the 600 block.

Jasper from Colossal Media Group was working today on a new Coors Light hand painted ad-mural. He seemed to enjoy himself in-spite of the heat "It's a fun job." The new mural is on the side of Foolish Pride Tattoo.

Colossal Media Group has permanent locations in major markets like New York and Los Angeles, where hand-painted advertising is more common and often much larger.

Colossal was featured in the documentary "Up There" which won a Gold OBIE for the best Individual Execution, Traditional Billboard, at the 2010 OAAA Conference.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Holy ----, Old Spice is Crazy

This interactive video from Old Spice is nutso. When the video ends you can add sounds and animate Terry Crews and environment via your keyboard.

You probably recognize the hilarious and meaty Terry from The Expendables, Bridesmaids, and the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris


Have fun - Watch the Terry Crews Muscle Music Video


Where were all the Republicans?

At least the streets are clean.

I have seen the street-cleaner only one other time this year for opening day of the Rays at Tropicana Field. The preparations for the arrival of Politicians and the elite were not unnoticed. Many businesses planned on staying open later than normal hours to accommodate the Welcome Party patrons.

I overheard and spoke with many of my fellow St. Petersburg residents and service industry workers who noticed changes around the downtown area prior to the RNC. This included but was not limited to increased police force, new streetlights and city beautification. Furthermore, the money spent on the Republican National Convention was nearly $55 million for the Democrats and roughly $73 million for the Republicans.

The media inflated predictions of Hurricane Issac's effect on the Bay Area which caused a stir among visitors, but the low pressure system only yielded slight wind and rain. The road closures and weather made the city look abandoned. The only vehicles in passing were police cars of every kind, or the occasional bike gang of brown-clad cops.

Sunday night left locals scratching their heads. I watched as one establishment prepared for a private "after party" in which the request was to shut the entire place down for any guest other than those invited to the party, even before the festivities in the Trop began. The least of expectations was that there may be a surge of some visitors making their way back from the kick off celebration. No one came. In fact, there were many large buses that transported people in and out of St. Petersburg. Other than the private party I noticed no immediate economic contribution to The Burg's businesses as predicted.

Monday, August 20, 2012

You're a peon to BoA

St. Petersburg, FL Bank of America has added 24-hour armed security to their downtown drive up ATM ahead of the RNC's big welcome party.

If you're a Bank of America customer living in downtown St. Petersburg there is a good chance you use their drive-up service and ATM at 565 1st Ave S. In March of 2012 a woman was robbed at gun-point at the location and the armed security seems long overdue. Several other robberies have occurred nearby.

Don't count on feeling safe for long. According to a security guard on-site the 24-hour presence will end after 11 days. The manager of the BoA branch confirmed security was added due to the upcoming RNC event.

The welcome party is expected to bring 20,000 people to St. Petersburg including lobbyists, journalists, celebrities, protestors, and some of the nation's political elite.

Contact the BoA branch: (727) 821-5350

Sweet sap of the Ixora (Jungle Flame)

If you grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, or probably anywhere else on the protruding member of America that is the Sunshine State, there is a good chance you tasted the sweet sap of the Ixora flower.

When I was a kid my friends and I wouldn't hesitate to taste a handful of the flowers, but I doubt any of us knew the name or anything more about the free treat. If I had ever confessed any of this to my mother she would have surely forced me to drink an entire gallon of milk like that time she thought I ate Oleander.

The Ixora is common mostly in tropical Asia but has become a popular hedging plant in Florida. Its fiery blooming bundles have long been used as a natural remedy for a number of ailments including treatment of the poo poos. According to www.medicalhealthguide.com:

". . . it has been identified that the plant contains important phytochemicals that are known to have antioxidative, antibacterial, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, antidiarrhoeal, antinociceptive, antimutagenic, antineoplastic and chemopreventive effects. This analysis suggests the validity of the plant’s folkloric and erthnomedicinal uses.  "

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Irie St. Pete

Irie St. Pete - Rebelution is here

SoCal reggae rockers Rebelution have arrived in downtown St. Petersburg for tonight's sold-out concert at Jannus Live.

Count on running into a heady crowd heading to this show with doors opening at 6:00 pm.

Also on the bill are Expendables and Passafire.

More info at JannusLive.com

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Wolf-Face tonight on WMNF

Catch Michael J. Wolf as he returns to the airwaves TONIGHT (8/15/2012) for an exclusive interview and in-studio performance with Wolf-Face on WMNF's Grand National Championships.

TUNE IN AT 8 PM TONIGHT TO 88.5 (Tampa/St.Petersburg) OR ONLINE AT http://www.wmnf.org/programs/362

Michael, Rain-Wolf, The Good Wolf, and Wolf-Fart will join Alastair St. Hill from 8-10 pm tonight (8/15/2012), then see Wolf-Face live in St. Petersburg August 24 at Local 662 with Room Full of Strangers, Alias Punch, The Mother Machine, and Die Rebel Scum . . .

http://www.facebook.com/events/426863660678639/
Advance tickets available that include a pre-party with an open keg

Additional RNC in St. Pete Info

St. Petersburg Police just dropped off this door-hanger. It includes multiple advisories and links for information regarding parking and other restrictions for the upcoming RNC welcome party at Tropicana Field.

It points out that Residential Parking Permits will not be exempt from the restrictions and could be subject to removal.

Gotta love the use of the QR code.