TampaBLAB

If you’ve never been to the Lakeland Pig Festival and you love BBQ, boy have you been missing out! The festival continues today at Tiger Town. Darby wrote a brief description of the event yesterday.

The husband and I went up there last night to sample some items so we could report back here on Lakeland Local with our recommendations. Our recommendations actually will include some items we tried last year that have made an encore appearance this year, too.

Let’s start with dessert first: Junk Yard Dogs BBQ has the most amazing cheescake desserts you’ll ever eat! They sell out, though, so don’t put it off if you want to try it. Also, The Cookie Jar Bake Shop in Bartow has a booth in the back and you’ll never go wrong with their cookies and brownies.

In the side dishes department, we loved the fried dill pickles from Bite Me Barbecue. They seem to be fried in a hushpuppy-type batter. Say yes to the ranch dressing when offered. There’s lots of great-smelling corn on the cob everywhere, but I didn’t partake because I didn’t have dental floss with me.

Meats: you just don’t seem to go wrong at any of the booths. Definitely get at least a rib sample from a couple of booths. Pulled pork is good at every booth we’ve visited. And chicken on a stick is another must-have.

Of course, no good BBQ is worth anything without a great sauce. They come in all- and I mean ALL- varieties at the Pig Festival. Sweet sauces. Vinegar sauces. Hot sauces. Spicy sauces. Mango sauces. Honey sauces. Most booths have tortilla chips and samples for dipping so you know you’re getting one you’ll truly love.

The Pig Festival also has tons of meat rubs for sale at the various booths. We’ve purchased Bad Byron’s Butt Rub in the past and it’s our favorite when we cook ribs at home.

Last night’s headliner performance was from Atlanta Rhythm Section. They put on a great show.

We kept hearing a pesky rumor that Jamie Oliver, a.k.a. the Naked Chef, and/or The Food Network was at the event filming one of the professional BBQ teams. But try as we did, we never substantiated the rumor. Perhaps he’ll be there today, though. Those rumors usually don’t circulate without there being an element of truth to it.

Post from: Lakeland Local

Originally Published as Here’s What’s Cookin’ at the Lakeland Pig Festival

Mr. Dunderbaks is targeting the end of next week for an opening at the Oak Ramble plaza on BBD:

(h/t Xark)

Ben & Jerry created “Yes Pecan!” ice cream flavor for Obama.

For George W. they they asked for suggestions from the public.

Here are some of their favorite responses:

- Grape Depression

- The Housing Crunch

- Abu Grape

- Cluster Fudge

- Nut’n Accomplished

- Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker… Swirl

- Iraqi Road

- Chock ‘n Awe

- WireTapioca

- Impeach Cobbler

- Guantanmallow

- imPeachmint

- Heck of a Job, Brownie!

- Neocon Politan

- RockyRoad to Fascism

- The Reese’s-cession

- Cookie D’oh!

- Nougalar Proliferation

- Death by Chocolate… and Torture

- Freedom Vanilla Ice Cream

- Chocolate Chip On My Shoulder

- Credit Crunch

- Mission Pecanplished

- Country Pumpkin

- Chunky Monkey in Chief

- WMDelicious

- Chocolate Chimp

- Bloody Sundae

- Caramel Preemptive Stripe

- I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands . . . with nuts

Ella Curry, of EDC Promotions, has begun the 2nd annual Black History Literary Affair, a free virtual literary festival. "Give the Gift of Knowledge" runs Jan 25th - Mar 7th, and features radio shows, blogs, giveaways, and more.

Stanza and Smashwords smash barriers to indie distribution? Another interesting development that may help define the future of publishing.

Interested in participating in a worldwide, interactive book writing project? Or, maybe want some financial advice? Author Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, has begun a new project. His website says this: Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money, will be an interactive project in which Kiyosaki will not only offer his written ‘draft’ chapters online, but invite feedback, commentary and questions from readers across the globe via website forums and blogs. Reader feedback will then be incorporated into the book as it is written and released, chapter by chapter, on the Internet. This bold and unique approach will enable the millions of people around the world who have put the Rich Dad principles to work in their lives — as well as those who are challenged by today’s harrowing economic times — to engage directly with Kiyosaki and literally help him shape his new book as it is being written. Find out more or join in here.

And, the Christian Library Journal is looking for book reviewers. (No, I'm not signing up. Too much writing to do!) You can get more info here.

Last, I try to remain focused on my current writing goals but every now and then I come across a welcome departure. This week it was a mini writing contest on Kaye Dacus's blog. One of those pick-several-words-from-this-random-unrelated-list-and-do-your-best type contests.

I won! You can read my entry in the comments here.

God is ever faithful. I'm blessed to know so many good people--readers, writers, editors, and agents--through this blog. I appreciate every one of you.

Enjoy the weekend!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

For the second straight time, I’ll be away from Tampa when the Super Bowl is played there. Last time I flew out to Los Angeles on game day for work. But was able to attend a kickin’ Super Bowl party at the home of a friend of a friend. This time we’re out here on [...]

As many of you know, the Pittsburg Steelers won Super Bowl 43 in what I must say was a near-epic finish. Now that all the fanfare in Tampa is subsiding, here comes all the cleanup...

Dale Mabry Hwy & Himes Ave have reopened, however Tampa Bay Blvd between the two roads will remain closed until February 13th. Several Downtown Tampa streets will also reopen in the coming days.

Most HART routes affected by the Super Bowl festivities have resumed normal operation. However, Route 7 will remain on detour until Tampa Bay Blvd reopens.

We think you are probably aware that Super Bowl XLIII will be played in Tampa tomorrow, but here’s a quick rundown of the previous Super Bowls played in Tampa.

Super Bowl XVIII

On January 22, 1984 at Tampa Stadium (aka The Big Sombrero), the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins, 38–9.

Pregame festivities featured the University of Florida Fightin’ Gator Band and the Florida State University Marching Chiefs. Singer Barry Manilow performed the national anthem.  The halftime show was a “Salute to Superstars of Silver Screen” featuring the University of Florida and Florida State University Bands.  Apple’s famous “1984″ television commercial ran during a timeout in the third quarter, and some say that changed how the Super Bowl would be used as a media advertising platform.  Voice-over work for the highlight package to Super Bowl XVIII was John Facenda’s final project for NFL Films. Facenda died a little more than eight months after the game.

As a teenager, I was lucky enough to actually get in the stadium for that game, walking among the seats attempting to sell SuperPretzels.

Super Bowl XXV

On January 27, 1991 at Tampa Stadium the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills, 20–19, the smallest margin of victory in Super Bowl history.

Super Bowl XXV was played under much patriotic fervor, due to the Gulf War. The proceedings included a rousing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Whitney Houston, which was somewhat marred days after when it was reported that she was lip-syncing. The halftime show was titled “A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl.” It was produced by Disney and featured over 3,500 local children from different ethnic backgrounds and a performance by boy band New Kids on the Block, with special guest Warren Moon.

I was dating a girl from Buffalo at the time, and for years she caught hell for kicker Scott Norwood missing a game-winning field goal in the final minute (not to mention Buffalo’s 0-4 record in Super Bowls).

Super Bowl XXXV

On January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants, 34–7, behind the great passing attack of ex-Buc Trent Dilfer.

Play-by-play announcer Greg Gumbel became the first African-American announcer to call a major sports championship.  The desk reporting for CBS was done aboard the famous Buccaneer Cove pirate ship at the endzone of Raymond James Stadium.  Before the game, a pregame show titled “Life’s Super in Central Florida” was held, featuring Sting, Styx, and PYT.  To honor the 225th anniversary of the birth of the United States, singer Ray Charles performed “America the Beautiful,” and the Backstreet Boys sang the national anthem.  The halftime show was produced by MTV and featured Aerosmith, ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J. Blige, and Tremors & The Earthquake Horns.

I met wifey later in 2001, and there is no truth to the rumor that I claimed I would ask her to marry me just as soon as the Bucs won a Super Bowl.  Coincidentally, the Bucs won Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003, and we got married in two months later.

Which brings us to Super Bowl XLIII

Journey will perform during the pre-game show, and Jennifer Hudson will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The NFL will salute four decades of champions during the coin toss ceremony and the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation. The coin toss will feature Roger Craig (Super Bowl XXIII, 1989), John Elway (Super Bowl XXXIII, 1999) and Lynn Swann (Super Bowl XIII, 1979). Roger Craig follows last year’s participants and fellow San Francisco 49ers Craig Walsh (son of Bill Walsh), Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice and Steve Young. Joe Namath (Super Bowl III, 1969) will participate in the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation and he previously participated in the coin toss in Super Bowl XXVIII.

The Super Bowl XLIII halftime show, sponsored by Bridgestone, will feature Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Enjoy the game!

Here is a great post that I just read on Activerain.com.t was written by Kim Daugherty, Realtor and Broker from McKinney TX. You can read the post here. 7 Thing I Need My Buyer Clients To ...

As the nights go, this was an excellent one. I went to a Bolts game. Sat on the second row and when dudes would get checked into the glass, I was counting teeth. The tickets came with free Beer, and free food. I texted my kids that I intended to take them to an NHL game. Bottom line, it is a fast game with plexiglass barriers, and it was quite awesome. I would write more, but honestly, I could break it all down this way: Hockey on T.V. = kind of sucks. Hockey right next to you on the glass? Awesome!!! Beer Excellent = Free Beer even more so.

When you first move to a city you pay close attention as you drive. You want to make sure to never make a wrong turn. You also notice business signs.

That is, until the route becomes habit. When that happens you can drive to work and be unable to remember the drive there.

I drive Bartow Road almost every day. When we first moved here we’d drive past Happy Jack’s and break into the song:

Happy jack wasnt old, but he was a man
He lived in the sand at the isle of man
The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key
So they rode on his head on their furry donkey — Happy Jack, The Who

Yeah, we never figured out how that song fit a BBQ place either. Seeing as we almost never eat BBQ, we never stopped in to sample the fare. But, as we sat in traffic, we liked watching the heat rise from the smoker.

That’s not going to happen as Happy Jack’s closed this past New Year’s Eve.

But they couldn’t stop jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldnt prevent jack from feeling happy

Note: The Ledger’s Rick Runion also stopped by after the close for a few photos of Happy Jacks.

photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local

photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local

Post from: Lakeland Local

Originally Published as Happy Jack’s

Well its been a long week, leading up to my 28th birthday, and today was finnaly the big day. Yup, one year older and at the ripe old age of 28, I thought I was tool od too party this much in one week. Well I guess that is what the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay can do for you. If you are not here right now enjoying the celebs, parties, and overall excitement, then I must say that you are missing out.

Last night was no different as the 2009 Bud Bowl Celebrations kicked off at Channelside Bay Plaza with Snoop Doog and the Snoopadelics on hand. Normally when I have been to other concerts, its usually a music artist with a dj pumping out the sound and beats, but not Snoop!

The Snoopadelics are an amazing band, that combined with the smooth hip hop flow that Snoop has always been known for, have a unique sound that is sure to get the crowd on its feet!

The fans were out and in full party force as thousands packed the place in anticipation of part one of the Bud Bowl festivities. Once again I noticed that Cardinals fans were outnumbered by Steelers fans, as that is the theme everywhere I have been. Even Snoop seemed to be routing for the Steelers as he dawned a slick looking Steelers jacket. Cardinals fans where you at!

Snoop came out at about 10:45 p.m. and proceeded to rock the joint with all of his old skool hits as well as a few new school joints, annd then some other songs that I didnt even know he sang, like Cypress Hill? It threw me off a bit, but I was still jumping around like a teenager like the rest of the crowd and throughly enjoying myself. He put on show for the crowd and by the end of the night we were all begging for more.

All in all it was a good night and a perfect way to end the birthday festivities. The hits keep on comin though, as tonight the Bud Bowl festivities contiune as 3 Doors Down will be performing at Channelside tonight, as well as many other parties I am sure will be a blast, whether you go to channelside, Ybor City, or north Tampa.

This is precisely the sort of thing I wanted to highlight when I started Re/Creating Tampa. Wired has a great article about Mark Gorton’s efforts to create open-source software to aid in urban planning.

“Gorton, whose LimeWire file sharing software for the open-source gnutella network was at the forefront of the P2P revolution nearly a decade ago, is taking profits earned as a software mogul and spinning them into projects to make urban transportation safer, faster and more sustainable.”

***

“Portland, Oregon has already used his open-source software to plan its bus routes. San Francisco, whose MUNI bus system is a frequent target of criticism, could be next to get the treatment.”

Ray Sansom is out as speaker, and Larry Cretful is in.

Is this the end of Sansom’s shenanigans? I’m betting - no.

Bruno Argento describes a 21st century Europe.

“America’s harshly competitive, highly individualistic society has scarcely any grasp of “solidarity.” Likely they imagine “Solidarity” has something to do with Polish anti-communism. But no, “solidarity” is a feeling of natural affinity with the unjustly oppressed. One could call it benevolence. Or one could describe it as a wary, street-smart understanding that some fellow citizen just caught it in the neck for no good reason, and that you yourself could easily be next.”

***

“We now come to the useful word “precarity,” which is part of the American lifestyle but distant from American politics. “Precarity” is, of course, the condition of existing precariously. The condition of losing one’s safety and security, of losing predictability and the ability to rationally plan ahead, the condition of being humiliated and in danger.”

If we start to sound like a broken record, it’s because one simple truism bears constant repetition in today’s real estate market. “Price, price, price” is so fundamental to the success of every new property ...

For my money there’s no better analyst of cultural and political trends than Bruce Sterling.

Here’s Bruce’s most current prognosticating essay at Seed Magazine.

I’m always impressed by people’s behavior during massive panics. They rarely believe or admit that they are panicked. Instead they assure one another that at last the wool has been lifted from their eyes. They are seeing the clear daylight of rationality after years of delusion.

But a delusion that lasts for decades is not a delusion. It’s an institution. And these, our institutions, are what now fail us. People no longer know what they value. They don’t know what to believe. And unfortunately, it’s part of the human condition to believe and invest in things that are demonstrably not true.

***

Standards of scientific proof and evidence no longer compel political and social allegiance. This is not a return to the bedrock of faith — it’s an algorithm for ontological anarchy. By attacking empiricism, the world is discarding all of the good reasons to believe that anything is real.

If science is discredited, why should mere politics have any intellectual rigor? Just cobble together a crazy-quilt mix-and-match ideology, like Venezuelan Bolivarism or Russia’s peculiar mix of spies, oil, and Orthodoxy. Go from the gut — all tactics, no strategy — making up the state of the world as you go along! Stampede wildly from one panic crisis to the next. Believe whatever is whispered. Hide and conceal whatever you can. Spy on the phone calls, emails, and web browsing of those who might actually know something.

read the whole thing.

They are here like a rabid army!  Pittsburgh Steeler fans have invaded Tampa.  I worked 14 hours today and the wheels of my taxi never stopped moving.  I picked up Steelers all day and night.  Most of them don't even have tickets, they are just here to party and soak up what it means to be a loyal fan and have hope for your city, hope for your family, and revile in a tradition that last a lifetime. 

I have not seen one Cardinal fan, very bad on your part.  I was going to continue my tradition of pulling for the NFC Champion team in the Super Bowl, but not this time.  Not one soul is in this town from Arizona that I can see.  When the Bucs went to San Diego for our Super Bowl, we had about 10,000 fans that flew out there. 

I really believe that this game is a solid home game for Pittsburgh.  I don't even know if anyone in the stadium will be pulling for the Cardinals!   Seriously. 

To promote the Professional Wild Bull Riding Association, the Forum in downtown Tampa had some bull-theme promotions and of course Rocky the Bull -- the USF mascot -- was invited before tonight's Lightning hockey game.

I let him check out my wheels . . .


. . . which he used to bike away . . .


. . . until he came back.

These two girls stood on Hillsborough Avenue this afternoon trying to get customers to sign up for a free bicycle raffle -- and maybe get them to try some arroz con pollo at Pollo Tropical.

The Florida Gators football team, fresh off their second national championship in three years, is quite popular these days. The orange and blue colors and Gator logo are showing up everywhere.

At SWFBUD member store Oliver's Cycle Sports in new Tampa, the Gator logo is everywhere on this little kid bike. A real collectible.


Even the training wheel "hubcap" has some Gator action.

Up The Neck - The Pretenders