That Hole in Your Chest The real story behind the vest: Trevor Aaronson’s September 29 story regarding Point Blank Body Armor (“Vested Interests”) was wonderful and very accurate. I am a former employee of the company, the shipping/receiving supervisor for the “military division” branch in Deerfield Beach, and I have…
This is from Bill Plympton, creator of Hair High, a Carrie-meets-Grease animated gothic comedy: “There can never be enough film festivals. It’s a great way to meet your audience and travel the world.” Let ’em rip, eh? Roll out the red carpets, invite the movie fanatics in (at $8 a…
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Philip Freedman steps out of an elevator on the 39th floor of Broward County’s tallest building and into a condo fit for an episode of MTV Cribs. A dapper and affable salesman, Freedman cues Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got the World on a String,” then walks…
The catfights begin around minute 14, when girls at a rock club pull hair, throw awkward punches, yell unintelligible threats, brandish chairs, slap bystanders, and, eventually, yes, pull down a tube top. There follows on the television screen a boobs-and-butts montage filmed mostly at car shows, wet bikini contests, and…
Loud, angry songs aren’t part of Keith Michaud’s repertoire. Mostly, he sings pretty, guitar-based folk tunes, as he was doing a couple of Saturdays ago at Fort Lauderdale’s Beach Place during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina victims. Unfortunately, by the time Michaud started performing in the mall’s open-air courtyard…
I was sitting in a box seat at Pro Player Stadium, and it started coming out of me like a mantra. “Pull him… pull him… pull him.” Then I said to a friend visiting from Florida’s west coast, “What’s wrong with that jackass? McKeon’s got to pull Vargas.” It was…
It’s 8 on Saturday night, and the evening is unfolding almost as sluggishly as the pace it took for my armpit hair to grow into the two luxurious bushes I now wear. That’s two months, to be exact, ever since I lost my razor (don’t ask) and decided to let…
Maniac on the Floor For the rest of us, it’s Loving Rene: Finally, someone wrote about our ever-so-popular underground dancer, a.k.a. “Homer” (“Lord of the Dance,” Jonathan Zwickel, September 22). I’ve known Rene for a few years now, from Crobar on South Beach to Gumwrappers in Fort Lauderdale. He loves…
It’s a hot afternoon on July 2 in Baghdad. Inside a silver van, two Iraqi insurgents sit at an intersection. Seventy-five yards away, Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer, a 20-year-old medic from upstate New York, stands guard next to a sand-colored Humvee. One of the Iraqi men points a video camera, the…
It’s no secret that the Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post, embroiled in a nasty newspaper war for readers in Palm Beach County, share a crush on the Scripps Research Institute, the sprawling medical research facility under construction on sensitive swampland in western Palm Beach County. A Post editorial once…
Here’s a job for new Broward County government chief Bertha Henry: End the county’s business dealings with the Westside Gazette. The newspaper has been claiming false circulation levels for years and has used the trumped-up numbers to fleece taxpayers. Broward County is just one of many government customers of the…
The last time I crashed Crush, the Thursday-night indie-rock party, it was packed with boys wearing short shorts, ties, and sunglasses in ’70s tennis player fashion. The Bjorn/Mac/Jimmy wannabes were showing more skin than the virtually nude girls. It was kinda hot, the only drawback being the pretty-boy attitude they…
We Need More Guns Bleeding hearts and their lambs: Thanks for letting me know about the great things going on at this station (“Savage Station,” Bob Norman, September 22). Although Savage is just that, he speaks the truth about many people. It’s disgusting how the media portray Bush as the…
On a Sunday summer afternoon so sultry that steam swirls from the street and water vapor beads on windows, Christopher Moll flips off the A/C in his Coral Springs condominium. He snakes microphone cables from a bedroom closet to his small recording studio/office, then signals his singer, Tim Yehezkely, who’s…
John Wile will probably sue us for saying this, but residents of Fort Lauderdale know that Sunday afternoon at Shooters means one thing: the poolside hot-bod contest. Why would Wile, who owns Shooters, take us to court for pointing out that his Intracoastal fixture is the place to be for…
They’re Dropping Like Flies Call it a good idea for all the wrong reasons. The Broward County court system has set up a misdemeanor drug court for low-level drug users. Now, hapless pot smokers who get snagged by county law enforcement with less than 20 grams of the stuff can…
As if Hurricane Katrina victims didn’t have enough going against them, now they’re the latest targets of hate radio. Just listen to Fort Lauderdale’s WFTL-AM (850), the 50,000-watt home of the Sun-Sentinel and Florida Marlins. It’s also the home of some of the most radical right-wing voices in America. One…
United We Fall I cried salty tears: I just wanted to thank Wyatt Olson for his excellent article “The Bad-Hands People” (September 15). I work for a personal-injury attorney here in Fort Lauderdale, and I deal with our clients daily who have cried and cried out of frustration with United…
Nothing puts a pro-ball arena to the test like becoming an emergency shelter in a pinch. The Superdome in New Orleans became a house of horrors when it was filled with residents fleeing high water unleashed by Hurricane Katrina; Houston’s Astrodome is fairing better as a haven. But reports had…
Five weeks after the Miami Herald canned columnist Jim DeFede, his spot in the newsroom appeared, well, rather strange. A crash dummy in a baseball cap, jeans, and Nikes sat in his chair. Its left hand rested on the desk next to a bottle of Australian Chardonnay. Nearby was a…
The king of the North Broward Hospital District fell without a whimper. Bill Scherer was unceremoniously ousted last month as general counsel for the district, which has a billion-dollar budget and is the largest public health care system in the state. From his powerful perch, Scherer controlled not only $5…
The ‘Pipe Makes the Honor Roll Guidance from the battered cylinder: Tailpipe’s overall grade for Gretsas Report Card: A (“Georgie Shows Promise,” September 1). Robert Dressler Via the Internet Elephant Feet Make the point, but save the show: Though I think it was a shame for Ronald Mangravite to use…
