Creative Loafing Tampa — July 2, 2026

DALÍ IN AMERICA

Before influencers. Before virality. There was Salvador Dalí.

Dalí in America

The Dalí presents , a special exhibition exploring Salvador Dalí’s arrival in the United States in 1934—when Surrealism collided with American pop culture, celebrity and mass media, and Dalí began transforming himself into one of the most recognizable cultural figures of the twentieth century.

Already a rising artist in Europe known for his dreamlike imagery and provocative public persona, Dalí found in America something different: a culture defined by spectacle, advertising and reinvention. In response, his practice expanded far beyond traditional painting, bringing Surrealism into fashion, film, photography, design and the broader public imagination.

Featuring works and archival materials from The Dalí Museum’s Collection—including paintings, drawings, photographs and rare ephemera— the exhibition follows Dalí as he reshaped his identity

and practice in real time, moving between fine art, pop culture and public platforms as his reach expanded across an increasingly media-saturated world. Along the way, visitors will encounter a “New World,” filtered through Dalí’s surreal lens—where skyscrapers, celebrities and consumer culture become strange, theatrical and unexpectedly revealing.

Dalí in America

Playful and sharply relevant, reveals the blurred line between art, media and personal branding long before the social media era—and traces how America became part of Dalí’s iconic evolution.

On view through Oct 18, 2026

PUBLISHER James Howard

CHAIRMAN Mike Trentalange

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ray Roa

Editorial

DEPUTY EDITOR/DIGITAL DIRECTOR Colin Wolf

MANAGING EDITOR Selene San Felice

FOOD & DRINK CRITIC Kyla Fields

FILM & TV CRITIC John W. Allman

IN-HOUSE WITCH Caroline DeBruhl

CONTRIBUTORS Josh Bradley, Teddy Duncan, Jasmin Parrado, David Warner

PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Decker

SUMMER INTERNS Leif Helland, Liam Oliver

(apply for fall and spring by emailing clips and a resumes to rroa@cltampa.com and selene@ cltampa.com)

Creative Services

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jack Spatafora

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Paul Pavlovich

POLITICAL CARTOONIST Bob Whitmore

ILLUSTRATORS Dan Perkins, Cory Robinson

Advertising

SALES DIRECTOR Anthony Carbone

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Dan Winkler

CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER Jerrica Schwartz

Tampa Bay Journalism Project

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR John T. Fox

PARTNER NEWSROOMS Cigar City Sounds, The Gabber, San Pedro Gazette, Sapphic Sun, TB Arts Passport, WMNF News

Events and Marketing

MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Leigh Wilson

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Jessica Prieto

MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS COORDINATOR Kristin Bowman

Circulation

CIRCULATION MANAGER Ted Modesta

cltampabay.com cldeals.com

EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is a locally-and-employee-owned publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

Creative Loafing Tampa is proudly published by Events & Media, LLC.

The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2026, Events and Media, LLC.

The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.

Our main number: (813) 739-4800

Letters to the editor: comments@cltampa.com

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Presented by:

PINELLAS COUNTY:

Allelo

Birch and Vine (at The Birchwood Hotel)

Driftwood Cafe

Dunedin Smokehouse

Flipside Pizza Clearwater Beach

Grace Restaurant

Hi-Fi Rooftop (at The Fenway Hotel)

Jimmy's Tacos - St. Pete

Juno & The Peacock

Latitude 28

(at JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa)

LUMA (at SkyBeach Resort)

Luna Lux Restaurant and Lounge

Madison Avenue Pizza

Melting Pot

Ocean Hai

(at Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach)

Ocean Seven

Paul's Landing (at The Vinoy)

Pete's Gulf Bistro

(at Tradewinds Resort on St. Pete Beach)

Pipos Cuban Cafe

Q Southern BBQ

Sauvignon Wine Locker

& American Trattoria

Sparrow Rooftop (at Moxy St. Pete)

Taverna Costale

Teak

The Brinehouse

The Helm

The Library

Tides Seafood Market

Watercolour Grillhouse

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY:

3 Corners Pizza

Acropolis

American Social Bar & Kitchen

Ava

Babushka's - Hyde Park

Barcelona Wine Bar

Bar Terroir

Besito Tampa Boda

Bulla Gastrobar

Con Amor

CW's Gin Joint

Del Friscos Grille

District South Kitchen & Craft

Flames Indian Cuisine

Foodys Restaurant and Bar

Heights Drive Thru

Jimmy's Tacos - Tampa

Kona Grill

Mad Dogs & Englishmen

O-Ku

On Swann- Hyde Park

Quiote

Riveters

Sal Rosa (at Le Meridien Tampa)

Sal Y Mar Rooftop Bar & Events

Venue

Soul de Cuba Cafe

Sunda New Asian

The Dan (at Hotel Flor)

The Pearl

Tibby's New Orleans Kitchen

Timpano Hyde Park

Uno Mas

Sponsored by:

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS of Love & Fashion in Ybor City!

Thank you for the letters. Thank you for the comments. Thanks for calling out bots and trolls—and for holding us accountable when you think we fall short of what this publication can be. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has enjoyed opening up the mailbag, and we want to keep the party going. Scan the QR code on this page to give us feedback, or just find us wherever the algorithm has trapped you and chime in there.—Ray Roa

Emails show how Kanye West’s Tampa shows were booked, and how they became almost impossible to cancel

I bet he didn’t pay $.01 for advertising on this one.—@downwiththeinternet on Instagram

Turns out creative loafing was sold recently, a few years ago in 2023.

https://floridapolitics.com/ archives/774331creative-loafing-tampa-baysold-now-underlocal-ownership/ That Explains why Creative Loafing is less Creative and more of a radicalized media outlet.

Would be nice if creative loafing got back to their roots of arts, music, food and community culture in Tampa and less political vomit.—@ jt_productionz on Instagram

certainly shouldn't pay them to sing their ideas to us. There are plenty of NON-Nazis who can put together a beat and talk nonsense over it.—Terry Roberts

St. Pete’s Al Downing Day is on July 19, and local jazz greats are coming together to celebrate

Before I met Mr.Downing, I saw him sitting in at "2nd Bethel Baptist church". Rev. Enoch Davis was the pastor, the corner of 5th Av S.& 16th street, he played " What the world needs now is love sweet love " in church. I was about 10yrs old at the time. I'll always remember that. I was lucky to have him as a friend later after I started performing in the area. I asked him many times to play with me on numerous occasions and he did to my surprise. I loved him like my father. I truly miss my good friend Mr.Downing. Henry Ashwood (via Facebook)

Grammywinning hardcore band Turnstile is playing Pinellas Park this fall

Facebook reaction to CL video of folks explaining why they went to Kanye's concert last Friday

Sigh. You are SUPPOSED to cancel people for what they say. They are supposed to be allowed to say it, not fined or imprisoned for saying it, and then we're all supposed to judge the speech. If you think free speech means that all speech is equally good, you missed the entire point. "We can’t cancel someone for what they want to say, you know?” Look...some part of me thinks it sweet that a Jewish guy wants to forgive Kanye for saying he's a Nazi and that Hitler--the man who tried to exterminate every German Jew by poisoning them and burning them alive and workind them to death and shooting them--was a great guy. I mean...I guess it's sweet to have that much forgiveness in your heart. But I simply can't agree that paying large sums of money and getting together to cheer for Nazis is a good thing. We should shun Nazis, and we

Shhhhhhhhh!!!! Don’t be telling everybody dammit, those tickets are gonna be hard enough to get as it is.—Stan Johnson (via Facebook)

DeSantis says he vetoed bi-partisan bill allowing kids to earn scholarships for volunteering at polls because SPLC supported it (via Facebook)

If one thought he was not a vengeful person, they need to reconsider that thought. Even the Florida Legislature supported the idea. If an idea is a good one, who cares about its source?—Andromeda Monroe

I encourage the SPLC to support a lot more Republican legislation then.—Scott RH Can’t have the kids learning too much about elections...—Sandy Novak

Complaint filed against James Fishback says he’s not eligible to run for governor in Florida (via Facebook) Jay Collins desperate—Samuel Louis

I wouldn’t even vote for him for dog catcher!—Ruben Dupree

11am-2pm every 2 and 4 Sunday of the month nd th

do this

Tampa Bay's best things to do from July 02 - 09

It counts, really

Early voting in the 2026 primary election kicks off in a month, and the Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus wants the public to meet the candidates. The free College Hill Belmont-Heights neighborhood forum happens inside two community rooms at the C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library. Angela Birdsong, President of the Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that her group looks for candidates who share the same values and goals for the Black community, including diversity, equity, inclusion and Black history. Races covered include U.S. Congress, Florida State Representative, Hillsborough County School Board and Hillsborough County Commission. Read more at cltampa.com/news. Hillsborough County Democratic Black Caucus Meeting - July Candidate Forum: Thursday, July 9. 5:30 p.m.-8 p.m. No cover. C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library, Tampa. Zoom stream available. hcdbc.org—Leif Helland

Buns out

Ybor City venue Crowbar is reserving two whole nights for its last “Hot Dog Party” ever. The Tampa concert hall is set to close before August after two decades in the district and has announced seven bands in the lineup for Hot Dog Party 20, dubbed “The Final Footlong.” Two versions of the infamous hot dog eating competition will go down: an all-beef throwdown on Friday, July 3 and the vegan contest on Saturday, July 4. “There will be championship belts for both days,” Brokenmold Entertainment boss Joe D’Acunto told CL. Leading the charge on day one is Young & Sick, the brainchild of Nick van Hofwegen who’s touring behind Lost at Sea, a 2025 collection of almost-yachty pop-rock. Other bands on the bill include Florida indie-rock darling Cannibal Kids, along with hometown heroes like songwriter Geri X, lupine punk band Wolf-Face, and “The freakiest boi band of Tampa” Bad Cameo. Jeremy Gloff, aka the Doggfather and creator of the Hot Dog Party theme song, rounds out the bill alongside DJ and producer Wally Rios. Hot Dog Party 20 “The Final Footlong:” Friday-Saturday, July 3-4. 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday. $17.67 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City. crowbarybor.com—Ray Roa

First amendment realness

A year after restoring the historic Beach Theatre, Hannah Hockman produces its first-ever full-length theatrical production. “What the Constitution Means to Me,” Heidi Schreck’s Pulitzer and Tony-nominated play, drew inspiration from the playwright’s experience as a 15-year-old contestant in Constitutional debate contests. As she recounts and relives those teenage moments, she considers the Constitution’s meaning in her own life today—and in all our lives—and whether the freedoms it promised have truly come to pass. In the second half of the play, there’s an actual debate between Schreck and a teenage opponent, asking if it’s time to replace the Constitution altogether. The winner is decided by audience vote. Read more on this play and two other productions questioning American principles around America250 at cltampa.com/arts. “What The Constitution Means To Me:” Various dates and times through July 6. $20 & up. The Beach Theatre, St. Pete Beach. thebeachtheatre.org

—David Warner

DAVE DECKER

JOEY CLAY STUDIO

DAVE DECKER

Seguimos aquí

Loving Bad Bunny is one of the most American things you can do. If you’re still riding the Super Bowl high, or just generally don’t fuck with America250, The Ritz has you covered this July 4. While the night is themed around his 2022 chart-topping album Un Verano Sin Ti, promoters promise to play all Benito’s hits “from back then to now.” If you’re white and want to be respectful, leave all that corny American flag and hot dog shit behind and dress up like a bush or assless baddie Jessica Alba. Un Verano Sin Ti night: Saturday, July 4. Doors at 10. $13.38 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City. UnVeranoSinTiTampa.eventbrite.com—Selene San Felice

Swap til you drop

If your closet is full of stuff you’re not wearing, this is your intervention. No, it doesn’t matter that the tags are still on. Yes, that did look cute when you wore it five years ago. But wouldn’t it be nice to give someone else a chance to actually wear that stuff? And try again with something new? If spending on new clothes or “donating” to the landfill has been holding you back from a closet cleanout, consider a clothing swap. Sans Market in St. Pete holds quarterly swaps, as does Grassroots Kava House bimonthly, and Deviant Libation is a frequent swap stop. This one, at the latter, is gender and size-inclusive with leftovers going to CASA or Out of the Closet. There’s no cover, but alcoholic and N/A drinks will be available for purchase and food trucks will be onsite. Community Clothing Exchange: Sunday, July 5. 2 p.m.-5 p.m. No cover. Deviant Libation, Tampa. deviantlibation.com—Selene San Felice

What a beautiful chocolate man

It’s been a quarter century since the Wayans brothers had moviegoers in a chokehold. Even if much of “White Chicks,” “Little Man” and the “Scary Movie” franchise aged like milk, Marlon and Shawn Wayans were undoubtedly kings of hilarious dumb shit. After an exhausting, pretentious stretch of American media where no one could figure out how to be lowbrow but unoffensive and everything had to be *art*, dumb shit is back, baby. “Scary Movie” (and “Jackass”!) is back in theaters. “I think our world, our culture, everything has gotten real negative and dark and sad,” Marlon told ET while filming the latest movie. “The world needs a big ass laugh and we’re a brand that knows how to make the world laugh.” He’s also hoping to make audiences laugh in Tampa this week with five shows at Funny Bone. Marlon Wayans: Multiple times Friday-Sunday, July 3-5. $60. Funny Bone Comedy Club, Tampa.—Selene San Felice

Free state when?

Florida stayed British, then Spanish long after 1776.

By Diane Roberts/Florida Phoenix

Our democratic republic has survived (more or less) for 250 years. Despite the best efforts of the existing regime, we still (mostly) cherish the rule of law, free speech (pretty much), and the right to vote.

So, two cheers for us as the nation hurls itself into a frenzy of self-congratulation, parades, parties, patriotic spectacles, and pious — often historically dubious—invocations of American Exceptionalism.

Florida will be right there with everybody else, wrapping ourselves in the flag so tightly oxygen may struggle to reach our brains.

But perhaps you are wondering what was going on in Florida back in 1776.

What valiant battles did we fight? Did the Forces of Freedom take on the Redcoats and teach them a lesson? Were the Founding Fathers proud of us?

Actually, Florida in 1776 was a British colony and remained a British colony, loyal to the British Crown throughout the War of Independence.

Not that we like to admit this.

The state’s official commemorations include:

• Ron DeSantis unveiling a statue of Benjamin Franklin in Franklin County.

• Ron DeSantis unveiling a statue of Thomas Jefferson in Jefferson County.

• Ron DeSantis unveiling a statue of James Monroe in Monroe County.

• Ron DeSantis unveiling a statue of Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton County

• Ron DeSantis unveiling a statue of George Washington in Tallahassee.

Tough luck, Chipley.

But let’s talk history.

Wars galore

In the mid-18th century, the British found themselves fighting more wars than you can shake a stick at, including the Carnatic Wars against the French for control of India, the Jacobite Uprising to replace a Hanoverian king with a French-backed Stuart one, a European campaign to stop the Spanish (and the French) from eating up Portugal, and the biggest and most important one, the French and Indian War.

It was a hydra-headed monster in which the British and the French, along with Native American allies on both sides, duked it out over who controlled trade, who controlled the Ohio River, and who owned those vast lands north of the St. Lawrence River.

Finally, in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, the British got Canada. The French settled for a couple of Caribbean islands, while their ally

Spain got Havana, Cuba, back from the British, who had captured it. The Spanish, who had colonized Florida 250 years before, ceded our swampy territory to Britain.

(Still with me? I won’t judge if you run off and pour yourself a stiff drink).

To resume: Here’s British West Florida, with Pensacola as its capital, and British East Florida, with St. Augustine as its capital. The population (not counting Native people) was around 20,000 souls, 65% of whom were black.

A lot of white people made a lot of money as merchants, planters, slave traders, and smugglers traversing the Atlantic to West Indies and back again.

Richard Oswald, a Scot who owned thousands of acres of old Timucua land along the Tomoka River, grew indigo, rice, sugar cane, and cotton—or rather, his enslaved people did.

Loyalist haven

pissed off residents hanged effigies of John Hancock and Samuel Adams in the town plaza.

The Florida colonists weren’t looking to become part of some raggedy new country to the north; they were doing fine, thank you very much.

George Washington, on the other hand, really wanted to capture Florida. It had forts, ports, and connections to Britain’s strategic Caribbean possessions.

In late summer 1776, 2,500 Continental Army soldiers marched south from Savannah to take St. Augustine. It didn’t work; there weren’t enough supplies. Half the men deserted.

COLUMN

Washington tried again the next year, but the American troops were vanquished at the Battle of Thomas Creek. Same thing in 1778 when rebel forces tried to cross the St. Mary’s River and swoop down into what is now Nassau County.

Florida remained stubbornly British, becoming a haven for fleeing Loyalists.

In 1774, the First Continental Congress urged Florida to send delegates who could help draft petitions to George III and fume over the various injustices visited on the colonies, including quartering soldiers in private property, blocking Boston Harbor, and the Crown’s demand that American colonists stop grabbing Native American land west of the Appalachians.

Unimpressed, Florida declined the invitation.

News of the Declaration of Independence two years later didn’t reach St. Augustine for more than a month. When they heard, mightily

Scholars estimate about 20% of the white population of the 13 colonies wanted to remain part of the British Empire, 50% wanted independence, and the rest just tried to keep their heads down until one side or the other won the war.

Florida traded

The point is, history is more complicated than we’d like, certainly more complicated and more uncomfortable than the Trump White House and the DeSantis administration would prefer.

continued on page 16

SURE, JAN: DeSantis did a lot to celebrate America250, but not Florida’s real history.

continued from page 15

Trump famously complained the Museum of African American History and Culture focused too much on “how bad slavery was,” while Ron DeSantis insists enslaved people acquired skills they could apply “for their personal benefit.”

But history, like science, doesn’t care what those two or any of the rest of us think.

Florida wasn’t British for that long — just 20 years. The Spanish got it back in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

The Spanish gave the British the Bahamas in return. You can decide for yourself who ended up with better beaches.

Historical aside: Don’t confuse that treaty with the 1763 Treaty of Paris or the 1784 Treaty of Paris of any the 30 other Treaties of Paris, from 1229, ending the Albigensian Crusade, to 1951, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.

The main thing about the 1783 treaty was that it established the United States as an independent nation.

Thought experiment: What would have happened if Florida, like Canada, had remained part of Britain, first as a dominion, then eventually becoming an independent nation and member of the Commonwealth?

Upside: We might be praised for our politeness, speak French as well as English, and have universal healthcare.

Downside: Poutine. Dumping cheese curds on fries and smothering the whole thing in beef and chicken gravy is a crime against gastronomy.

Andrew Jackson, soldier, slave trader, plantation owner, and all-around jerk had taken to violating their territory, burning Seminole villages, and hunting down enslaved people who’d escaped from the Carolinas and Georgia to relative freedom in Florida.

In 1819, the exhausted Spanish gave up and ceded Florida to the United States.

COLUMN

The bellicose and deeply racist Jackson became Florida’s first territorial governor.

But that’s not, of course, how the geopolitical cookie crumbled.

Once again, Spain had to figure out what to do with Florida.

Headache

They’d owned the place for the better part of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries and never made money off it. The Spanish weren’t big on plantations; they were more into extractive industries.

Their Latin American colonies provided them with a lot of gold, silver, emeralds, and other blingy stuff.

Florida? Mosquitoes, alligators, and trees.

To boost the population as a defense against the Americans to the north, the French to the west and the British in the Caribbean, King Charles IV started giving land away for free.

My first Florida ancestor, a Frenchman named François Brouard, moved to Spanish East Florida in 1799.

Ol’ François had fought for the Americans in the War of Independence and Anglicized his name to Francis Broward, but he soon abandoned his new country to get his hands on a big chunk of property.

An exemplary Floridian.

But for Spain, Florida was a headache.

And here we are: A state run by frightened white folks who want to play down anything critical instead of dealing with our sometimes uplifting, sometimes embarrassing, often maddening history.

Everyone wants to believe they’re good people who have always been good people, especially if they want to celebrate a national milestone and perhaps ignore the unraveling of what had been a society struggling for inclusion, decency, equal justice, and genuine liberty.

While you’re grilling your hot dogs, waving your flags, and hollering “USA! USA!” remember our story is morally messy, tangled, and often contradictory.

We can be proud of our accomplishments; we must also acknowledge that empires decline (ask the Romans, the Spanish, and the British) and nations do not stay on top forever.

Celebrate, but cast a cold eye on our rulers, those who would ignore or deny history, those who would trash our constitutional rights. Celebrate, but reflect: Is America in 2026 the country you want it to be?

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

1770-ICK: An America250 reception at the governor’s mansion in May, 2026.

Give improv a try in a

No

Three great improv acts split the bill in this weekly show! Come for the Drop-In at 7:00, and stay for this show for free.

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Cut up

DeSantis

touts $800 million cut from newly signed Florida budget, and more state news.

By Gray Rohrer and Mitch Perry/News Service of Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his eighth and final budget (HB 5001E) of his tenure Monday, vetoing more than $800 million from a $114.5 billion spending plan.

The move came two days before the fiscal year was set to begin, after lawmakers’ battle over the amount of spending led to a stalemate that required a special session in May to settle.

After an infusion of federal stimulus funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis has touted a reduction in the budget for four straight years, as well as reduction in the state debt and a decrease of 1,300 state worker from when he first took office in 2019.

“Who else is doing that?” DeSantis said at a bill signing event at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. “The footprint of government is not growing in Florida. If anything it’s shrinking.”

DeSantis’ office didn’t immediately release the full list of line-item vetoes Monday morning, but he indicated he cut at least $800 million in spending.

“The things that we vetoed, a lot of those are just either inappropriate or maybe nice to have. Nice to have is fine, but I want to fund things that we have to have,” DeSantis said.

In other parts of the budget, there’s more than $30 billion for K-12 schools, or about $9,338 per student, about $150 more than the prior year. That includes about $4.5 billion for the state’s school vouchers program, which pays parents a stipend to send their children to private schools or for homeschooling.

The funding also sets aside $1.5 billion to boost teacher pay, with more than $201 million for teachers with at least 10 years of experience, although the increase will be capped at $3,000 per year.

There is also $665 million for Everglades restoration projects, another priority for DeSantis throughout his two terms in office.

STATE NEWS

He also said he vetoed a companion budget bill (HB 5403E), which would have required $50 million in funding each year for the next 40 years for capital projects for the corrections system. The bill also required construction of a new 600-bed corrections hospital and bonds to be issued to pay for it.

There were also provisions in the main budget bill (HB 5001E) that tied $91 million in pay increases for corrections officers to the approval of the prisons bill, so those salary hikes are also nixed.

Another $24.9 million in prison repairs, and $56.4 million for new prison cells at Lancaster Correctional Institution in Gilchrist County were tied to the approval of the HB 5403E and fell to DeSantis’ veto.

The money for new prisons and maintenance at corrections facilities would have come from a debt reduction fund, which DeSantis has highlighted throughout his term as governor.

DeSantis said that while he supported the hikes in pay for prison guards in recent budgets to help retain and recruit employees to an agency plagued with turnover, the extensive borrowing required by the bill led him to quash it.

“It was a casualty of saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to rob Peter to pay Paul,’” DeSantis said. “That accounts for a decent chunk of the vetoes.”

“This budget continues to move Everglades restoration forward so that Floridians – and those that visit our great state – can realize the ultimate benefits ahead of schedule,” said Everglades Trust CEO Anna Upton in a released statement. “Restoring the natural flow of water south through the Everglades and decreasing harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee will mean that Florida’s economy, which relies on clean water, will continue to thrive.”

DeSantis says he vetoed bi-partisan bill allowing kids to earn scholarships for volunteering at polls because SPLC supported it

Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed legislation that would have allowed high school students to earn scholarships by volunteering at polling locations—and he’s citing the support of a progressive civil rights organization loathed by conservatives as a reason for rejecting it.

Debate about the bill (HB 461) during the committee process was devoid of any controversy, and it passed unanimously in both the House (108-0) and the Senate (37-0). The House version was sponsored by Republicans Kiyan Michael and Susan Valdés, of Jacksonville and Tampa, respectively, and in the Senate by Jacksonville Republican Clay Yarborough.

Another Republican, Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland, was a key figure pushing for the measure. Speaking during a Senate committee meeting in January, he said he conceived of the idea when helping his grandson look over options for him to fulfill community service hours, but none involved civic matters.

“Why can’t they learn about elections?” Holland said. “And why can’t we find something that gets young people involved in elections

and inspires them maybe to be a poll-worker in the future?”

Among the organizations supporting the measure were the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause, and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). It was public support from that group that the governor noted in his veto message, saying that could potentially lead to a violation of a state law that bans any specific polling location from having poll workers from only one political party.

“While the House and Senate sponsors had a noble intent in filing the bill, the application of the bill may result in an avenue for polls to be staffed with volunteers that may not be subject to Florida’s prohibition on single party registered poll workers for general elections,” DeSantis wrote. “Given the bill received support in committee by representatives of the Southern Poverty Law Center, this may indeed be the consequence of the legislation.”

Jonathan Webber, Florida policy director for the SPLC, called the veto “unfortunate” in a statement to the Phoenix.

“The SPLC is a nonpartisan nonprofit that supports good policies, which would benefit all Floridians, no matter where they come from. In this case, it was a Republican-sponsored bill that passed with bipartisan unanimous support that would allow high school students to learn about how our elections work and earn valuable firsthand experience and service hours,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate the Governor would choose to veto this legislation over helping young Floridians and our tireless election administrators, who deserve any and all support to ensure an efficient voting process during the upcoming midterm elections.”

After this story was published, Jessica L0we-Minor, the president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, also weighed in.

“The League of Women Voters of Florida was surprised that the Governor vetoed

House Bill 461, particularly given that the bill received strong bipartisan support within the Legislature. From our perspective, the bill created a valuable opportunity for young Americans to learn about the electoral process by volunteering at the polls. We appreciate the bill sponsors’ work to introduce the bill this year and hope it will be re-visited during the 2027 Session.”

Republicans have criticized the Southern Poverty Law Center for years, alleging it has unfairly labelled conservative organizations as extremist. Those groups include Moms for Liberty, Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, and the Center for Immigration Studies.

Members of those groups and other conservatives cheered after President Trump’s Justice Department announced in April that a federal grand jury in Alabama had indicted the SPLC on charges of fraud and money laundering. The indictment alleges a paid informant program used by the organization to gather intelligence on racist and far-right groups was tantamount to aid for those groups.

The SPLC is defending itself in federal court, asserting that acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche made false statements during the press conference discussing the indictment and that it deserves to know “whether the same or similar false statements were made in secret to the grand jury,”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier followed up in early May with a press release declaring that his office was conducting its own civil investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center “for alleged deceptive and unfair practices related to charitable solicitations and fundraising.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Still THE GOVERNOR: DeSantis at a press conference in March.

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RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES

Supernatural plans expansion and more Tampa Bay food news.

By Ray Roa

After being immortalized by Guy Fieri on “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” Tampa Bay’s most famous doughnut is about to level up as far as production goes.

Supernatural Food & Wine has plans for an expansion towards West Tampa, shop founder and chef Wesley Roderick told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

Roderick shared preliminary renderings of the West River “Supernatural Donut Factory” last Tuesday during his presentation at the 10×10 lecture series in downtown Tampa.

Today, he told CL that Supernatural Food & Wine has signed a lease in Tampa’s West River neighborhood that will allow for more production of the cinnamon-sugar sourdoughnut that Fieri recently described as one of the best he’s ever had.

“Supernatural is making a lot of donuts. And this next chapter will allow it to continue to do that,” Roderick said.

He did not disclose details about the address, lease or a timeline on buildout for the expansion. The spot, he said, is roughly the same size as Supernatural’s 452-square-foot downtown Tampa headquarters next to The Hub at 305 E Polk St. “It is going to function as a production facility, and it will also have a storefront to some limited degree,” he said. “Ideally, what we would do is we would take 600 square feet from the back of The Hub, or something like that, but that’s not possible.”

The volume of business on Polk Street—open seven hours a day, six days a week, for breakfast and lunch—has exceeded what the space can handle,” Roderick added.

While a menu and expansion plans are in their very preliminary stages, Roderick did say that Seth Williams, who is Supernatural’s “donut production king & lord of the DPMs (donuts per minute),” will get to work in the new location. The expansion, Roderick added, basically lets Supernatural Food & Wine keep up with demand for the donuts while giving the Polk Street location space to maintain its high level of service and quality.

Roderick detailed the complex doughnutmaking process with Fiery on Triple D, which filmed on site in downtown Tampa last April. In the episode that aired on May 22, Roderick pulled the veil back, sharing his

approach, from the starters (a Polish and the 100% sourdough leaven), yeast, flour, extended fermentation, rice bran oil to fry, plus times on mixing and rest. The Best of the Bay-winning doughnuts, of course, have always come with the hole. “We give it to you, we feel like you’ve been getting ripped off all these years,” Roderick told Fieri.

Supernatural Food & Wine—which skyrocketed in popularity in 2022 when celebrity chef Alton Brown said the breakfast BEC was the best breakfast sandwich he’s ever had—also had to recently up production of and re-explain how to get the doughnuts (call

Edison Food + Drink Lab closing for the summer Jeannie Pierola’s 14-year-old South Tampa restaurant is taking a break.

“After 14 years of creating, serving and welcoming you, we are taking a summer break to refresh and dream up something extraordinary,” the restaurant posted on social media last week. “Thank you for every adventurous bite, every craft cocktail, every moment you trusted us to surprise your palates. Stay tuned for the next chapter.”

Owner and chef Pierola—a five-time James Beard Award semifinalist—told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the break will allow for deep cleaning during slower summer months.

“And Edison’s looking for a brand refresh, “ Pierola said. “Currently, we’re not at any stage to release information for a reopening date, but reopening isn’t too far out.”

Pierola is also the owner and head chef of

SideBern’s). She left the iconic Tampa restaurant brand in 2007 before opening Edison Food + Drink Lab in 2012 and Counter Culture in 2019.—Leif Helland

Baba closing for rebrand in St. Pete

After seven years in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District, popular Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurant Baba is saying “wada’an.”

On Thursday, Baba took to Instagram to announce that the concept, as well as its attached tinned fish bar Barbouni, will permanently close on Friday, July 3, adding that “it’s not a goodbye, but the beginning of something new.”

The space, located at 2701 Central Ave., will make way for Kaixo, a new dining experience inspired by the “food, wine and cultural traditions of the Iberian Peninsula,” and led by Baba’s

ahead, Uber Eats, or walk-in).

There’s even a new Supernatural doughnut subscription, where people who have their shit together can initiate a standing order that allows for a regular order on any day of the week. Orders can be as small as a half-dozen, and a $15 delivery option is available.

And could there ever really be a “hot and fresh” style sign outside Supernatural’s West River location?

“That’s our dream,” he said. “But nothing is set in stone.”

Counter Culture on 2909 W Bay to Bay Blvd., which is three miles from Edison on 912 W Kennedy Blvd. That restaurant remains fully operational.

The team at Edison is praised for its rotating menu, which “experiments with everyday food.” Past hits include crispy pork belly with burnt leek black garlic, passionfruit gastrique and baby sorrel, and cracker-fried red snapper with smoked cheddar grits.

Pierola spent 10 years as the executive chef of Bern’s Steakhouse and Haven (formerly

Chef Andrew Duncan and Sommelier Danielle McCoy, says the post.

The group is also bringing back the popular pintxo pop-up bar Barra Barra, as a full-time fixture in the Barbouni space.

“So, yes. This summer, we’ll be closing Baba to remodel, reimagine, and make way for an entirely new chapter,” said owner George Sayegh.

No opening date was announced for Kaixo or Barra Barra, though the team promised “more to share in the coming days.”—Colin Wolf

SUPER: Renderings of the expanding Supernatural Food & Wine.

MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE

Discovery time

The Dalí salutes cosmic grandeur of famed surrealist’s American experience.

By Teddy Duncan

In his characteristically exuberant (and unreliable) autobiography, “The Secret Life of Dalí,” Salvador Dalí describes his pivotal 1934 arrival in America: “I went out on the deck of the Champlain, and suddenly I beheld New York. . . I exclaimed, ‘New York salutes me!’. . . and I in turn saluted the cosmic grandeur and the virgin originality of the American flag.”

Granted, Dalí also recounts his “intra-uterine” memories in the book, fondly reflecting on his time as a fetus (which he describes as a “paradisal state”) and the trauma of birth— obviously, the book doesn’t have strict fidelity to fact. Yet, despite a sense of unreality in his autobiography, there is an undeniable kernel of truth in Dalí’s account of his initial encounter with the United States. America was, for the painter, a young nation offering a media infrastructure and resources to satisfy his voracious desire for fame.

The Dalí Museum’s latest exhibit, “Dalí in America”—on view through Oct. 18, in celebration of America’s semiquincentennial—begs a question: What is Dalí’s America?

SHOW PREVIEW

‘Dalí in America’

about one of these displays, the store made changes, rendering it more commercially friendly. When Dalí saw the altered display, he smashed the window and was subsequently arrested. Apparently, despite his celebration of the financial freedom America provided, there was a tension between commerce and his artistic vision. Dalí encountered commercialism’s limit: its built-in capitulation to the consumer. His TV appearances on programs like “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “What’s My Line?,” and “The Dick Cavett Show” align with his popularized public image as an eccentric artist, mustache carefully twirled upward at each end. In the clips shown at “Dalí in America,” he is a selfconstructed spectacle, respected as an artist, but also caricatured as a benign aberration from the American norm. His inventiveness as an artist is converted into a television-friendly performance of strangeness—though, in truth, it is impossible to divide Dalí-the-artist from Dalí-the-spectacle cleanly.

Through Oct. 18. Included with gallery admission. The Dalí. 1 Dalí Blvd, St. Petersburg thedali.org

The answer to this question, like Dalí himself, remains enigmatic and capricious, with responses swirling mosaic-like throughout the exhibition. “Dalí in America” consists of archival material, photographs, video clips from talk shows, smaller sketches, and grand “masterworks,” all offering up incongruous meanings of Dalí’s America.

Newspaper articles, and even an enlarged poster-size entry log from Dalí and Gala’s first visit to the U.S., tell the history: In 1934, he visits New York for the first time—and the city, representative of America, does “salute” him. Julien Levy Gallery (a major New York space) held an exhibition of his work, and before the show concluded, all 22 pieces were sold. Shortly after, in 1936, he secured the pinnacle of mid-century media: a cover portrait in Time magazine. He is even solicited by luxury stores on Fifth Avenue to design window displays in his surrealist style.

A newspaper article from the exhibition reports that after receiving customer complaints

Two masterworks (large-scale paintings that are central to Dalí’s artistic oeuvre) are borrowed from the main gallery for the exhibit. The famous anamorphic image emblematic of his “paranoiccritical” method, aptly titled “Portrait of Gala looking onto the Mediterranean sea which from a distance of 20 metres is transformed into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln,” seems only incidentally tied to America. It features our bearded, 16th president, but mainly to demonstrate the illusory effect promised by the title: from around 10 feet away, there’s a pixelated Lincoln; upon approaching the composition, he transforms into a painting of his wife-muse, Gala, staring out over a cliff.

The painting achieves its effect—but the actual connection to America is more tenuous: Lincoln was chosen because of a piece in Scientific American that Dalí read, which used a pixelated Lincoln (as is used in the painting) to demonstrate the double-image.

His large oil painting of Christopher Columbus, titled “The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus,” stands 14 feet tall, imposing over the viewer. The piece is a mythic

construction of Columbus, illustrating the decisive moment before he steps onto the American shore, carrying a flag with a picture of Gala, crosses populating the background. America’s advent, or discovery, is, in his late nuclear mysticism style, an almost biblical event.

The masterworks are central to “Dalí in America”—yet his smaller, lesser-known drawings stood out as reflections of his thoughts on our country.

“American Clock,” drawn for the founding’s 200th anniversary, pictures an ornate golden

Dalíean clock, with embedded jewels and a red, white, and blue Lady Liberty head, on a withering branch in a way that seems to recognize the precarity of empire.

Half a century later, as we approach another major anniversary of America, in a time possibly even more tumultuous than the ‘70s, it is worth asking: Would this branch, if drawn today by Dalí, be thicker and stronger, reinforced by elapsing time, or has it continued to wither under the weight of America’s clock?

SHIP SHAPE: Dalí came to America in 1934.

FULL MOON®YAPPYHOUR

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Welcome to America

Dalí found fame in the U.S., but he might not have made it in 2026.

By Ray Roa

When Salvador Dalí died in 1989, European newspapers seemed only capable of reflecting on his time as a surrealist in their neck of the woods. But half of the artist’s life was actually lived in the United States. “It was like America was never even part of Dalí’s world to them,” Peter Tush, Curator and Senior Interpreter at St. Petersburg’s Dalí Museum told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

Last May, the museum opened a new exhibit which counters that narrative by tapping into an inventory that is the largest collection of Dalí’s work outside of Europe. “Dalí In America” makes the case that the artist did his most imaginative work in the most public of forums here in the U.S.—and showed the country that an artist didn’t have to be a quiet, lofty or elusive figure.

Included in the exhibit are works like Dalí’s Statue of Liberty images, New York-adjacent projects like the work he did on Manhattan’s Bonwit Teller windows and at the Julien Levy Gallery on Madison Avenue, and, of course paintings like “The Ship,” “The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus,” and “Portrait of Gala looking onto the Mediterranean sea which from a distance of 20 metres is transformed into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.” Another piece in the exhibit is 1976’s “American Clock,” timed for the country’s bicentennial. The photolithograph print features a Dalíean clock, along with a red, white, and blue Lady Liberty bust on a withering branch. In his piece (see p. 27), CL contributor Teddy Duncan wondered if that branch would be made stronger in the 50 years since America’s last big birthday or pushed to failure under the weight of the country today.

Artificial intelligence, Tush thinks, “would be something he’d go ballistic over.”

This country in the ‘30s and ‘40s also offered a media infrastructure that could feed Dalí’s thirst to be famous. “He came to America ready for a new audience, and he recognized that meant more than a couple new collectors. He wanted the people,” Tush said.

And he reached them. Dalí scored a Time magazine cover in 1936 and in 1964 brought avant-garde flavor to Boy Scouts of America’s magazine Boy’s Life (now known as Scout Life). There were TV appearances and even collaborations with Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock. The artist knew, Tush noted, “that far more people would see a movie than would ever see his paintings.”

SHOW PREVIEW

‘Dalí in America’ Through Oct. 18. Included with gallery admission. The Dalí. 1 Dalí Blvd, St. Petersburg. thedali.org

Dalí’s work sometimes addressed his own sexual anxieties by fixating on masturbation—thinking about him entering the mainstream c. 2026 is interesting given the polarizing, pearl-clutching, hyperaware nature of everything.

Tush thinks Dalí might've thrived.

“Things aren’t worked out, aren’t clean or clear. There’s a lot of confusion, a lot of gray area, and he seemed to thrive in chaos,” Tush added. “That was really his perfect medium.”

And like many celebrities, Dalí was certainly not immune to controversy. He painted portraits of the Franco family, and seemed to be hedging bets by playing nice with power (not too unlike rich folks flocking to politicians).

“...he seemed to thrive in chaos...”

Tush thinks Dalí—a Catalan who died at the age of 84 in his hometown of Figueres—would’ve loved it here, citing, in part, the artist’s affection for disorder and technology.

“He was one of the first artists involved in holography. He loved the idea of painting in three dimensions, and he was super excited by cybernetics and machine processing,” Tush said, citing Dalí’s 1975 lithograph subtitled “Spectacles with Holograms and Computers For Seeing Imagined Objects.” A little bit like a rapper too gung ho about a beat to clear any samples, Dalí was a sponge always quoting and appropriating from other artists, having fun with inspiration with little regard for copyright.

“The very fact that Dalí would even entertain being on Franco’s good side was appalling to most of his former colleagues. But if it had been somebody completely different—a communist who’d won instead—Dalí would have done the same thing. He was very much someone who went with whichever way the wind was blowing,” Tush said. “He didn’t have a strong political identity. He wasn’t fighting in the Spanish Civil War—he was waiting to see who would win, and that’s who he’d try to get close to.”

Despite creating an, at times, unflattering image of Hitler in his 1944 novel “Hidden Faces,” Dalí found himself fixated on the monster. The museum even owns “Hitler Masturbating,” a 1973 water-color conversion of an unknown artist’s work on paper (it’s not on display, but could come out in another exhibition in a different context). Dalí, Tush said, would have

been the first to say that if he’d been captured by Nazis, he would have been imprisoned and probably executed.

“He had no illusions about where he stood with them,” Tush said, noting that there was no sense of love or admiration for Nazis. “He just found Hitler so extreme that it became, unfortunately, an obsession.”

It was a fixation that was unacceptable politically, Tush said. But running towards hot-button subjects was a common theme in Dalí’s life. Even his autobiography—raw, transparent and troubling in many places—might’ve made Dalí immediately cancelable.

Tush notes that like many figures from the past, Dalí would not have made it without changing.

“If we look back at Dalí and his views and his values, there’s some that definitely do not line up with our current values or our way of looking at the world,” Tush said. “But I think that he provided so many open opportunities to understand this world really differently— that’s his main contribution. He was having fun at the time he was there, and some of it was about pushing buttons and being edgy and being uncomfortable, especially for people who were not good at being uncomfortable.”

MAN OF THE HOUR: Two years after first landing in the states, Dalí landed a Time magazine cover.

Pride against prejudice

The Sonder Atelier repurposes clothes with purposefully feminine designs.

By Jasmin Parado

Jounte Armantrading has always been confident in her feminine style. The 24-year-old Tampa artist felt her love for pearls, lace and Jane Austen made that clear, but she was curious what others thought. So, she conducted an experiment where she asked people for their first impressions of her. Others, it turns out, saw her as much more masculine.

“From that, I went to the masculinization of women of color, to women of color as a whole and how we’re all different but placed in strong leading roles—never really the damsel or the princess or the fair lady,” Armantrading told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

Now a year into running her fashion shop, The Sonder Atelier, Armantrading’s runway show at FloridaRAMA next week is a love letter to the princess she believes anyone can be through style.

With childhood story inspirations like Eloise at the Plaza and Fancy Nancy, Armantrading’s designs echo the soft, swift lines and stylized faces found in fashion illustrations.

“I just love whimsical, fun hyper-femininity to the point where it’s completely absurd but in the best way, and I think those are my biggest inspirations,” she told CL.

By painting all faces and hair textures, Armantrading reclaims the protagonist narrative for women of color who also want to embrace being girly.

LOCAL ARTS

Her fashion show this month is centered around iconic princesses in pop culture— from Princess Diana to “The Princess Diaries”’ Mia Thermopolis—and how they redefined the archetype.

The Sonder Atelier x FloridaRAMA Fashion Show

“I feel like the more I got masculinized, the more feminine my art became—and who knows where it’s gonna go right now?” Armantrading said.

Saturday, July 11. 8 p.m.-10 p.m. $50 & up FloridaRAMA, St. Petersburg.

Armantrading’s craft doesn’t include sewing or creating clothes. Instead, she hand-paints illustrations on selected or custom upcycled clothing and transforms each garment into a wearable and distinct statement piece.

Armantrading said she chooses clothes from stores like Tampa Thrift and Red White and Blue, and she pays attention to noticeable trends sported by the Tampa citygoers she sketches. She goes for lighter fabrics that make the most sense in Florida’s sweltering summer. The loose, flowy silhouettes she picks also mimic the state’s swampy and beachy environments.

“Being called a ‘princess’ has become a way to call a woman spoiled and privileged… but that is not its true meaning,” Armantrading wrote in her sketchbook. “When I think about what it means to be a princess, I think about the Disney characters I grew up watching that taught me about bravery and kindness.”

Armantrading said she hopes her show can also bring together local fashion lovers looking to break ground in the industry without leaving Tampa Bay for global fashion capitals or faraway design schools.

“Depending on how well it goes, I’ll bring more creators who have fashion pieces that they want in, and people who are models, movie makers, photographers—we can all come together and start building these spaces,” she told CL.

Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist

FINAL WEEKS ON VIEW NOW THROUGH JULY 12,

2026

Generous support provided by Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist is organized by the Katonah Museum of Art

This exhibition is curated by Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe, Director and Chief Curator, Katonah Museum of Art

MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY: Models in Jounte Armantranding’s designs.

Ali Banisadr (b. 1976), These fragments I have shored against my ruins (detail), 2023, oil on linen, 86 x 180 in. Mohammed Afkhami Foundation. Photography by Genevieve Hanson © Ali Banisadr

Cracked up: Tampa Bay’s best comedy gigs

July brings a diverse group of comedians to Tampa Bay clubs and venues. We have a comedian with multiple Netflix specials (Jo Koy) at the Hard Rock Events Center, a “Scary Movie” star (Marlon Wayans) at Funny Bone, a “Last Comic Standing” finalist (Rachel Feinstein) at Side Splitters, a six-show run that’s already sold out (Mark Normand at Side Splitters) and a previous Best of the Bay winner (Rio Paris) back in Florida to headline a weekend at Snappers. And they’re just part of a full calendar of talent appearing this month.

Note: Sometimes comedian schedules get shuffled around, and venues have to make last-minute adjustments. Lineups subject to change. See more shows at cltampa.com/ arts.

—Michael Murillo

Mike Stanley Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, July 1,3 and 4. 8 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach

Mike Cronin Thursday-Saturday, July 2-4.

8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Friday; 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday. $23.80. Side Splitters, Wesley Chapel Rio Paris Thursday-Saturday, July 2-4. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers, Palm Harbor

Joe Devito Friday-Saturday, July 3-4. 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $30 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa

Marlon Wayans Friday-Sunday, July 3-5.

7 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Saturday; 6 p.m. Sunday. $60 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City

Mark Evans Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, July 8, 10 and 11. 8 p.m.

Wednesday and Friday; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach

Rachel Feinstein Thursday-Saturday, July

9-11. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday; 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday. $30 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa

Adam Hmada Thursday-Saturday, July

9-11. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $23.80. Side

Splitters, Wesley Chapel

Phil Hogan Thursday-Saturday, July 9-11. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers, Palm Harbor

Kym Whitley Friday-Saturday, July 10-11. 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Saturday. $32 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City

Mark Christopher Friday-Saturday, July 10-11. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Sunshine City Comedy Club, St. Pete Beach

Bear Clarke-Webb Friday-Saturday, July 10-11. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Clearwater Comedy Club, Clearwater

Mike Rivera Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, July 15, 17 and 18. 8 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach

Greg Warren Thursday-Saturday, July 16-18. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. Friday; 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. $25 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa

Shaun Murphy Thursday-Saturday, July 16-18. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $23.80. Side Splitters, Wesley Chapel

Nick Griffin Thursday-Saturday, July 16-18. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers, Palm Harbor Chico Bean Friday-Saturday, July 17-18. 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Saturday. $42 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City

Brittany Brave Friday-Saturday, July 17-18. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Sunshine City Comedy Club, St. Pete Beach

Lando Gonzalez Friday-Saturday July 17-18. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Clearwater Comedy Club, Clearwater

Jo Koy Wednesday, July 22. 8 p.m. $234.30 and up. Hard Rock Events Center, Tampa

Leslie Norris Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, July 22, 24 and 25. 8 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach

Mark Normand Thursday-Saturday, July 23-25. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday; 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. SOLD OUT. Side Splitters, Tampa

Jake Iannarino Thursday-Saturday, July 23-25. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. and

9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers, Palm Harbor

Chad Prather Friday-Saturday July 24-25. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $30 and up. Side Splitters, Wesley Chapel

Ryan Davis Friday-Saturday, July 24-25. 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday; 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Saturday. $32 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City

Kevin Deane Friday-Saturday, July 24-25. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Sunshine City Comedy Club, St. Pete Beach

Adam Ray Sunday, July 26. 8 p.m. $42.70 and up. Hard Rock Events Center, Tampa Brinn Daniels Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 31, August 1. 8 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. $20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach Dedrick Flynn Thursday-Friday, July 30-31. 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday. $25 and up. Side Splitters, Tampa Bubba Dub Friday, July 31. 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. $32 and up. Funny Bone, Ybor City

Jimmy McCartney Thursday-Saturday, July 30-August 1. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers, Palm Harbor

Lance Weiss Friday-Saturday, July 31-August 1. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Sunshine City Comedy Club, St. Pete Beach

Nik Macik Friday-Saturday July 31-August 1. 8:30 p.m. $23.58. Clearwater Comedy Club, Clearwater

Besides the events listed in our Do This section on pp. 12-13 and the comedy gigs on p. 33, there’s lots to do in town this week. Have a look at what’s going down July 2-9 and beyond. All events are at community. cltampa.com unless noted otherwise. Head there for more and list your own.

ARTS

Studio55: Encaustic Explorations

Thursday, July 2. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. $80. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Artist Talk with Zack Wittman Thursday, July 2. 5:30 p.m. $12. Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Ybor City

Celtic Throne II Thursday, July 2. 7 p.m. $42.30 & up. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg Paint and Sip: Paint Night Done Right Every other Thursday through Sept. 24. 7 p.m. $43.99. Aloft by Marriott Tampa Downtown, Tampa

One By One (12x12 art exhibit) Friday, July 3. 7 p.m. No cover. FloridaRAMA, St. Petersburg

Street Art Sculpture by Jay Titus Friday, July 3. 6 p.m. No cover. Brenda McMahon Gallery, Gulfport. brendamcmahongallery. com

Liberty by the Bay Saturday, July 4. 4 p.m. No cover. Julian B. Lane Park, Tampa Stars, Stripes, & Science Saturday, July 4. 4 p.m. $15 & up. Mosi, Tampa Sunsets and Sparkles Above the Shore Saturday, July 4. 7 p.m. $75; no cover for 5 and under. Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa, Clearwater Beach

Sea of Glass: Manatee Stained Glass Workshop Tuesday, July 7. 5 p.m. $45.

Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg Group Art Show: Tiffany Grohs w/ Jesse Stoudt/Colleen Baxter/Alice Anderson Wednesday, July 8. 6 p.m. $5. The Warehouse, St. Petersburg Drum & Dance Circle Every second Wednesday. 7 p.m. Donations welcome. Safety Harbor Art & Music Center, Safety Harbor

Puff & Paint Creative Workshop Every first Friday through July 31. 7 p.m. $10. GÜD Essence, Clearwater

The Glow Up: A Glow in the Dark Party Every first Friday. 9 p.m. $5. Thyrst, Largo Zubrick Magic Weekends Friday & Saturday. 7 p.m.; Sunday. 2 p.m. $50 & up. Zubrick Magic Theatre, St. Petersburg Front Porch Art Walk Every first Saturday. 10 a.m. No cover. Shoal Line Boulevard, Hernando Beach

Ceramics Continued Study Select Sundays through Aug. 23. 10 a.m. $45. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Little Surrealist Tour Every first Sunday. 11:15 a.m. $32. Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg The Graveyard Cabaret Every first and third Sunday. 7 p.m. $52.77. SpookEasy Lounge, Tampa

Jun Kaneko: Silence Before Sound Through Aug. 23. $5 & up. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa

Dalí In America Daily through Sunday, Oct. 18. 10 a.m. $32 & up. Dali Museum, St. Petersburg

BOOKISH

United States of Rejection - An Evening with Alison Kinney Wednesday, July 8. 7 p.m. No cover with RSVP. Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg Ales & Tales Book Club Thursday, July 9. 6 p.m. No cover. Stilt House Brewery, Palm Harbor. palmharborlibrary.org

FILM & TV

Hamilton (Interactive movie) Friday, July 3. 1:30 p.m. No cover with registration. Palm Harbor Library, Palm Harbor. palmharborlibrary.org

A Star-Spangled Story: Battle for America Saturday, July 4. 10 a.m. $18.95. Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org

Movie on the Deck: Old School Wednesday, July 8. 8 p.m. No cover. Lower Deck at Harbour Island, Tampa

PBS POV: American Seams (Screening and conversation) Wednesday, July 8. 6

p.m. No cover. East Lake Community Library, Palm Harbor

Adventures in Filmmaking Premiere Thursday, July 9. 5:30 p.m. No cover. Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa

FOOD & DRINK

Thirsty Thursdays at the Polish American Society Thursdays. 5:30-9 p.m. No cover. Polish American Society of St. Petersburg

Sip & Shake (Hands-on cocktail class)

Every first Thursday through Oct. 1. 6 p.m. $75. St. Petersburg Distillery, St. Petersburg

First Friday Lunchtime Market Every first Friday. 10 a.m. No cover. 400 Cleveland Street, Clearwater

The Art of Coffee: A Tasting Journey

Featuring Mission Grounds Coffee Friday, July 3. 10 a.m. $7.18 & up. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg. imaginemuseum.com

July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest Saturday, July 4. 12:30 p.m. No cover. Gigglewaters, Safety Harbor. gigglewaters.com

4th of July at Lower Deck Saturday, July 4. 4 p.m. No cover. Lower Deck at Harbour Island, Tampa

4th Of July Neighborhood Picnic Saturday, July 4. 4 p.m. No cover. Shuffle, Tampa

Red, White & Bayboro: 4th of July

Celebration Saturday, July 4. 11 a.m. No cover. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg Funky Brunch Sundays. 11 a.m. No cover to RSVP. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg. bayborobrewing.com

Cameras and Coffee Monday, July 6. 5

p.m. No cover. Palm Harbor Library, Palm Harbor. palmharborlibrary.org Gulfport Fresh Market Tuesdays. 9 a.m. No cover. Beach Blvd., Gulfport. visitstpeteclearwater.com

LEARN

Cigar City: Bringing Industry to Tampa Thursdays through Dec. 31. 2 p.m. $18.95. Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org

Cafe con Tampa Fridays, 8 a.m. No cover. The Portico, Tampa Literacy Conversation Class Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. Saturdays at 10 a.m. No cover. Palm Harbor Library, Palm Harbor. palmharborlibrary.org

MARKETS

The Market Elaine Every first Friday. 5:30 p.m. No cover. The Grove, Wesley Chapel Dunedin Friday & Saturday Markets Fridays & Saturdays. 9 a.m. No cover. Pioneer Park, Dunedin Community Clothing Exchange Sunday, July 5. 2 p.m. No cover. Deviant Libation, Tampa Downtown’s Backyard Market Thursday, July 9. 12 p.m. No cover. Poe Plaza, Tampa. tampasdowntown.com

PRIDE

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars watch party Fridays through July 17. Doors at 6 p.m. No cover. Disco Pony Nightclub, Ybor City Bears at the Lake: Stars, Stripes & Splash Fourth of July Weekend Nature Retreat Friday-Sunday, July 3-5. 2 p.m. No cover. Ichetucknee Yoga Club and Nature Retreat, Branford Drag Queen Bingo feat. Stephanie Stuart Every second Wednesday. 7 p.m. $10. Emerald Coast Brewing Company, New Port Richey

SPORTS

Springboks vs England Nations Championship (Watch party) Saturday, July 4. 11:40 a.m. No cover. The North End Taphouse, Gulfport Tampa Tarpons vs Clearwater Threshers Multiple times Tuesday-Sunday, July 7-12. $2.25 & up. George Steinbrenner Field, Tampa

Dynamite Beach Break Wednesday, July 8. 7:30 p.m. $42.25 & up. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater Florida Holocaust Museum Night at the Rays Wednesday, July 8. 6:45 p.m. $32 & up. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg

THEATER

1776 Thursday, Friday & Sunday, July 2-5. 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday. $17 & up. Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo

Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise Select times and dates from ThursdaySunday, July 9-26. $18 & up. Shimberg Playhouse at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa

Interested in advertising around this listing? Contact jhoward@cltampa.com and acarbone@cltampa.com for details.

THU JULY 02–THU JULY 09

THU 02

C Rock The Park: The George w/Indigo Lane/Lance Markeith To kickoff the new year, CL called Lance Markeith one of the Bay area’s artists to watch, adding that he’s “incapable of making a false move—on stage, at the mic, or in the classroom.” This writer watched Markeith inspire a theater full of high schoolers during a special performance of “When the Righteous Triumph,” and this week he taps Blake High School students like vocalist Sherri Richburgh to help bring a new album, Emancipation , to life. “I was imprisoned by my own self doubt, imprisoned by the idea that I had to perform a particular way, record music in a particular way in order to ’make it,’” Markeith told CL. Emancipation , he added, is the manifestation of a bigger, cinematic sound that he found when he stopped getting on his own way. “Emancipation is about finding me. It’s about giving that sense of uplift and that sense of freedom that comes when I’m doing what I know in my heart is the right thing to do.” 6:30 p.m. No cover. Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa

FRI 03

C Hot Dog Party XX: Young & Sick w/ Cannibal Kids/Wolf-Face/BadCameo/ Jeremy Gloff/Geri X/DJ Wally Rios Crowbar is reserving two whole nights for its last “Hot Dog Party” ever. The Ybor City venue is set to close before August after two decades in the district and has seven bands in the lineup for Hot Dog Party 20, dubbed “The Final Footlong.” Leading the charge on day one is Young & Sick, the brainchild of Nick van Hofwegen who’s touring behind Lost at Sea , a 2025 collection of almostyachty pop-rock. One of the band’s songs, a 2018 cover of Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead,” even landed on the day one morning playlist for NASA’s recent Artemis II mission. “To be a tiny speck on this wild mission they’re on is beyond crazy,” van Hofwegen said in a TikTok video. Young & Sick has a connection to the Bay area lately, too, thanks to Hot Dog Party founder Matt E Lee, a Tampa expat who’s been playing bass in the band on recent shows. The band’s Ybor City show is just one of three Florida stops, including gigs on WMNF Tampa’s “Live Music Showcase,” Will’s Pub in Orlando, and Jack Rabbits in Jacksonville. A rep for Hot Dog Party told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that two versions of the infamous hot dog eating competition will go down: an all-beef throwdown on Friday, July 3 and the vegan contest on Saturday, July 4. “There will be championship belts for both days,” Brokenmold Entertainment boss Joe D’Acunto added. Other bands on the bill include Florida

indie-rock darling Cannibal Kids, along with hometown heroes like songwriter Geri X, lupine punk band Wolf-Face, and “The freakiest boi band of Tampa” Bad Cameo. Jeremy Gloff, aka the Doggfather and creator of the Hot Dog Party theme song, rounds out the bill alongside DJ and producer Wally Rios. Friday-Saturday, July 3-4. 7 p.m. Friday; 4 p.m. Saturday. $15 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City

SAT 04

C Beer & Metal: Iron Buddha w/Burned at the Stake/The Path Of Increased Indifference/Send All After a stint in the stoner-rock and Melvins-worship realm, Coral Springs metal trio Iron Buddha loosened up even more, and got heavier and darker, too. The proof is all over a 2023 EP,

Raze//Repose , a majestic five-track outing that sprawls across 30 minutes, giving Iron Buddha lots of room to mix clean vocals with growls and sludgy, technical arrangements for fans of Conan, Gojira and Mastodon. A black metal quartet from South Florida (Burned At The Stake) also visits this Ybor Heights brewery for what happens to be just one of two ridiculous Tampa metal bills going down on the Fourth of July. 7 p.m. $15. Deviant Libation, Tampa

C Bodega Bloodbath II: Bad Future w/Ramtha/Million/Meatwound/Round Eye/No Fraud  Erik Alonzo’s Mexican food store in Drew Park closes this weekend, but not before hosting a hardcore concert that will literally be lit (no in-air fireworks allowed, though, according to a social media post). Bands traversing deathcore (Million), ICP-face-painted metal (Bad Future), and thrash (Ramtha) join homegrown lord of the genre (Meatwound) along with Florida legend No Fraud. 5 p.m. $15. 2 Brothers Food and Grocery, Tampa

WED 08

Post Malone w/Jelly Roll/Carter Faith Last month, Post Malone rescheduled his Tampa concert, saying that promised new music just wasn’t going to be done, adding, ““We ain’t ready for tour just yet…” Three weeks was apparently all the hyper-posi rapper-turned country songwriter needed. Malone, 30, presumably brings tracks from a forthcoming, 40-track, double album, The Eternal Buzz , to the local stadium alongside Jelly Roll. The show’s got a lot of blue dot action happening as of press time, too, so cheapish tickets might be available as gates approach. 7:30 p.m. $93 & up. Raymond James Stadium, Tampa

THU 09

C Tame Impala w/Djo After a summer run through Europe, Kevin Parker makes his Tampa debut with Tame Impala. The 40-year-old Australian producer and multi-instrumentalist songwriter—accompanied by an in-the-round set featuring a B-stage—has been playing about two dozen songs each night on the tour supporting last year’s Deadbeat , the project’s first full-length since 2020. The outing earned him a Grammy award (Best Dance/ Electronic Recording for the LP closer, “End Of Summer”), and Tame Impala will be in good company. DJO, the Chicago psychrock outfit fronted by Joe Keery (yes, Steve from “Stranger Things”) supporting its own 2025 LP, The Crux , opens. 7 p.m. Sold-out. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa

This is an abridged version of Music Week. See extended listings via cltampa.com/ music.

By Ray Roa

C CL Recommends

Lance Markeith

Pinellas Park is getting a major dose of T.L.C. this fall. Last week, Grammy-winning hardcore band Turnstile announced another leg of its “Never Enough” tour, including two dates in Florida.

The band, which earned Grammys for Best Rock Album and Best Metal Performance last February has plans to play England Brothers Bandshell in Pinellas Park, which the municipality says can host up to 5,000 attendees. A press release says Hatebreed and Cold World will open the show. Turnstile last played the Tampa Bay area in 2023 alongside Blink-182 and in 2022 during a headlining set at St. Petersburg’s Jannus Live.

Tickets to see Turnstile play the England Brothers Bandshell in Pinellas Park on Saturday, Sept. 19 are on sale now for $85.53 including fees and sales tax; the band says $1 from every ticket sold will support a local organization working across youth services, mental health, immigrant support and community care.

See Josh Bradley’s weekly roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa

Warrant w/Firehouse Friday, July 17. 7 p.m. $34.59 & up. Ferg’s Concert Pavillion, St. Petersburg

Arranged In April w/ Soap Box Derby & Trust Friday, July 24. 6 p.m. $20.70 & up. Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa

Melina León Thursday, July 30. 9 p.m.

$18.55. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa

Zeds Dead Sunday, Aug. 2. 11 a.m. $77.15. Hard Rock Event Center Pool at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa

Totally Tubular Festival: Thomas Dolby and The Lost Toy People Wednesday, Aug. 12. 7 p.m. $25.79 & up. Ferg’s Concert Pavillion, St. Petersburg

Devil’s Cut Saturday, Aug. 22. 6:30 p.m.

$14.25 & up. Brass Mug, Tampa

Dokken w/Lynch Mob/Deep Saturday, Aug. 22. 7 p.m. $30.82 & up. Ferg’s Concert Pavillion, St. Petersburg

Taj Farrant (opening for Buddy Guy) Sunday, Aug. 23. 7:30 p.m. $79.75 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater

Ryan Castro Saturday, Sept. 19. 8:30 p.m.

$72.15 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa

Bryson Tiller Friday, Oct. 9. 7:30 p.m.

$54.50 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa

Dana and Alden Thursday, Nov. 5. 7 p.m.

$26.31. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa

The Altons Wedneday, Nov.11. 7 p.m.

$29.67. Bayboro Brewing Co., St. Petersburg

Floyd Nation (Pink Floyd tribute)

Saturday, Nov. 14. 8 p.m. $49.75 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater

Air Supply Saturday, Nov. 21. 8 p.m. $79.74 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater

Tapesgiving: Tape B w/Eazybaked b2b Distinct Motive/Space Wizard/ Claybrook/G Jones/Moody Good/Dr. Ushuu Friday-Saturday, Nov. 27-28. 6 p.m. $55 & up. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater

Lou Gramm Friday, Dec. 4. 7 p.m. $49.98 & up. Ferg’s Concert Pavillion, St. Petersburg

American Football Saturday, Dec. 12. 7 p.m. $49.27 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City

Tommy Emmanuel w/Trey Hensley Saturday, Dec. 12. 8 p.m. $45.50 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater

Judy Collins w/Livingston Taylor Saturday, Jan 16. 7 p.m. $45 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater

La La Land in concert Saturday, Jan. 16. 8 p.m. $84.80 & up. Morsani Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa

Pavlo & Band Thursday, Feb. 4. 8 p.m. $39 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater

Stick Figure Saturday, July 3, 2027. 6:30 p.m. $42 & up. Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa

The one who got away

By Caroline DeBruhl

Dear Oracle, My best friend from childhood, my soulmate, will not talk to me, and I don’t know why. We live across the country from each other. I have tried to text her, but she must have blocked me. I think we have not had contact for twelve years. She is a lesbian and I’m straight, but we were going to live together, and I was going to have a sperm bank baby. But then, I met my present husband and so backed out of that plan. We stayed friends after that. But it’s true, it wasn’t the same. But I thought it was because at the same time she took up with a woman who was very jealous of our friendship, and basically forbade my friend from having much to do with me. I thought if they ever broke up, she would come find me, and we would be best friends again. But now I find out that they broke up ten years ago, and she still has not contacted me. And she will not answer any of my texts or calls. This woman has not only been my closest friend. She is the closest thing I have to a sister. She is my soulmate. What do I do?—Missing My Soulmate

To paraphrase a friend of the column, Harry Crews, stories are how we understand ourselves. In your story, you considered having a child with your platonic friend, but then you began a romantic relationship that led to marriage. But what is her story? Is it not that the woman she planned on having children with left her for someone else? Both are true, but neither tells the complete story.

There are so many dynamics at play here: the expectations, the actions, the unspoken feelings, and the outside influence of others. Both of you brought partners into the mix, and that does change dynamics, however subtly.

ORACLE OF YBOR

Send your questions to oracle@cltampa. com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram

I don’t know if you’ve ever talked to her about what happened or how she felt or what really drove this wedge. I do know that this relationship was much deeper than a “best friend,” and this loss can feel isolating if no one else quite gets what you’re upset about.

Cards for the present: Six of Swords, The Hanged Man, Six of Pentacles, Queen of Swords (All reversed)

Cards for What You Want: Ten of Cups, The Lovers (reversed)

Cards for What You Need to Do: Full Moon, Seven of Wands (reversed)

Dear Missing,

When it comes to “soulmates,” I personally subscribe to Kurt Vonnegut’s idea of a Karass. I think there are multiple people with whom we are meant to meet and go through this life. Some of these relationships last decades, some only a few hours, but they are still fated to be. But soulmates are people; they do have free will. We all get to choose who we keep in our lives, regardless of fate. I know that losing this woman, this great love of yours, has been devastating. The Six of Swords can be a card of death, and to lose someone you were so close to feels like a death. It is an absence in your life that only they can fill. The Six of Swords is also a card of struggle between the past and the future, between inertia and moving forward. You are firmly stuck in this grief. The Hanged Man is often seen as a symbol for martyrdom because it is a card that is all heart and a card of the outsider. It’s giving yourself completely—possibly to your detriment—to something others cannot understand.

In this case, I think what makes your grief so difficult to deal with is that you do not have the language to describe honestly what this relationship was, what it meant, and what actually happened.

It is so clear that you’ve shared so much with this woman. As the Six of Pentacles, I think that generosity flowed both ways and that you both were each other’s confidants, intellectual partners, and support systems. I think you felt an incredible sense of purpose when you were with her, and it was a relationship that fed your soul and your mind.

As the Queen of Swords, I think she had a mind and soul that you loved dearly and that you have held and prized her above all since. She has taken up residence in your own mind, and you think about her often. But something happens when we let someone reside only in our minds: we rob them of any chance to fuck up. Their flaws are smoothed and good attributes highlighted--and possibly exaggerated. They can quickly become The One Who Got Away, which puts you at a great disservice. You cannot catch The One Who Got Away, and even if you did, you’re bound to be disappointed in those oh-so-human flaws.

I know in your mind, you also envision and want a happy ending. The Ten of Cups is the complete journey of love, reunited and never to be apart again. The Lovers, the bonded pair. It would be just like it was.

But this outcome is out of your control. It’s up to her and up to fate to rejoin you in life. What you do have control over are your actions and those need to be addressed.

The Seven of Wands is the protective barrier at the cliff’s ledge. It is a turning point: there must be a change because if you plow ahead, you will go straight off the edge. This is not easy to do. The Wands are passions and desires, and while they’re heightened under the Full Moon (unique to Uusi’s “Pagen

Otherworlds” deck), you can see them clearly. You know this is not working out. You are met with silence and rejection, and you cannot keep doing this for your own sake. If you allow it to, this grief, this love, this rejection will metastasize, and it will kill you. I mean that quite literally; it happens all the time. There has to be a dramatic shift in action, and I think that starts with processing your deep grief and learning how to talk about this relationship. I would highly encourage you to seek out a therapist, ideally one with experience in nontraditional relationships, but definitely one who is LGBTQ+ affirming. I would also encourage you to keep a notebook where you can write all the things you want to say to your friend. This

could be long letters or little things you’d want to text her. Whenever you have the urge to reach out to her, write it down there. If she does decide to reach out to you again, you’ll have your log ready to tell her everything you want to say. I am so sorry you have carried this wound around for so long. I know how devastating it can be to lose someone and how isolating it can be when you cannot talk about it. I do hope that with help and time, you can process this loss and find peace.

Thank you so much for trusting me with your question.

See more of Caroline and learn about her services via carolinedebruhl.com.

Cleaning house

by Dan Savage

Bisexual AFAB nonbinary here. (And a Magnum sub!) I have a legal query I’m hoping you or perhaps one of your guest experts might be able to help with? I’m a self-employed cleaner in Portland, Oregon, who offers a discount for LGBTQ+ folks on first cleans. The discount attracts the kinds of clients I want, queer and straight. I don’t work for MAGA types or even third-party types—and that’s a two-way street. Those people don’t usually like my prices, pronouns, tattoos, and hair. I don’t want to be alone in their homes or take their money.

I have a regular slot opening up for the first time in a while. Against my better judgment, I took to my old Facebook account and made a post, including said discount. Of course, some asshole from my conservative hometown felt the need to chime in and tell me it’s discriminatory and illegal. She went on to say she can’t “start a business that only hires straight, white women,” but she’s obviously conflating two very different things. I did some research, but can’t seem to find a definitive answer for this woman. To me, this is akin to a senior’s or children’s discount at a buffet. Not every single senior or child eats less, but on average they do, and it gets their families in the door. Queer folks, on average, are less likely to have kids, and thus tend to have cleaner homes and more disposable income to spend on the kind of luxury service I offer. And literally anyone could get the discount, they’d just have to say it applies to them. It’s not like I’m gonna ask for proof!

At the end of the day, even if this is technically illegal, I’m still going to offer this discount on principle. The likelihood that someone sues me over $50-80 seems infinitesimally small. But I would like to know before I advertise this open slot again. Thanks so much and happy Pride!—Quote Unduly Enrages Essentially Repugnant Sulkers

“Advocates for the rights of LGBTQ+ Oregonians fought for years to secure protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which they finally achieved with passage of the Oregon Equality Act in 2007,” said Misha Isaak, an attorney in Oregon who has worked on important LGBT civil rights cases. “Still today, only 23 states have laws that protect our community from discrimination. The Oregon law applies to all businesses that offer services to the public; it does not distinguish between discrimination in favor of or against LGBTQ+ people.”

While our community fought for these laws because we were the ones getting discriminated against based on our sexual orientations and gender identities—and while we’re still fighting for those laws in states where they’re still needed (and we’re going to have to fight to defend them in states where we’ve already won them)—these laws protect anyone and everyone from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Which means it’s just as against the law in Oregon for you to discriminate against

someone for being straight or cis, QUEERS, as it would be for someone else to discriminate against you for being gay or bi or trans or pan or omni or ace, etc., etc., et al, etc.

“Of course, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution trumps state laws, and the Supreme Court has said that businesses engaged in ‘expressive activities,’ like designers of wedding websites, have a free speech right not to participate in celebrating marriages they disapprove of,” said Isaak. “Is house-cleaning an ‘expressive activity’ under this line of cases? I doubt it. So, if QUEERS wants to be selective about their clientele, they should consider promoting their business based on classifications that aren’t protected under the law—like customers’ attitudes toward them.”

P.S. “The example of a ‘senior discount’ is an interesting one,” said Isaak. “Oregon’s nondiscrimination law specifically allows: ‘the offering of special rates or services to persons 50 years of age or older.’”

P.P.S. It’s also against the law in Oregon to discriminate against people for having children, QUEERS, so you might wanna keep “no kids” off your Facebook posts too.

P.P.P.S. You’re welcome and happy Pride to you too!

ever been a struggle for you? Can you offer anything useful around this problem?—Private Dancer

Where’s the scary part of this story?

Your opening line had me braced for something terrifying—murder on the dance floor or married men on the downlow or truck-stop sushi on the dashboard—but all I got was two very different and very valid ways of loving the club.

You like dancing by yourself. Your partner likes grinding on other people. Your partner says they don’t need you to be a sexy club dancer—they don’t need you to love the club the same way they do— and instead of taking your partner at their word, PD, you’re telling yourself a story about other people judging you and/or your partner being disappointed in you for not wanting to grind with him and his friends (old ones and brand new ones) on the dance floor. And while you don’t say what you worry other people might be thinking, PD, I’m going to climb out on a limb here and guess you’re worried other people think your partner is cheating on you and/ or is interested in cheating on. But if you know that’s not what they’re doing… and your mutual friends know that’s not what they’re doing… and if they arrive with you, check in with you periodically (which is most likely what they’re doing when they try to dance with you), and they leave with you… who cares what other people at the club think?

SAVAGE LOVE

Misha Isaak argued the case that struck down Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban and served as in-house counsel for former Oregon Governor Kate Brown. He is now a partner at Stoel Rives.

I have built up a scary story about the club. My partner loves them. They are a great dancer. They connect with our friends and strangers really easily on a dance floor, and it gives them life. We’re in a queer community where it feels like we’re being invited to the club every week. I love to dance, but I feel uncomfortable dancing with people. When I dance alone while my partner dances with other people, I feel worried that people are judging me, and my partner is disappointed in me. I’ve turned the club into a referendum on my worth and my sexiness, and I project sexual intent and meaning onto the type of dancing my partner does with our friends/other people. (I swear it LOOKS sexy, but this is just something folks like to do!) Now, I clam up when my partner tries to dance with me because I’ve gotten so uncomfortable, which makes me even more sad because I really do want to connect with them in that way. They tell me that it is not important to them that I be a sexy club dancer, they just want me to have fun. It adds so much friction in our day-to-day life that they love this thing and I’m so stressed and insecure about it. I can’t even tell if I like the club because I’m so caught up in this story.

I know your husband loves the club. The gays love the club. I know you don’t love the club. Has this

The answer to that question, of course, is you. You care what other people think, PD, or you care about what you assume other people think. If you can’t get those thoughts out of your head… and if those thoughts are so destructive that club nights are causing daily friction in your relationship… why are you going to the club at all?

P.S. Terry likes the club, I don’t. Here’s the fix that worked for us: I don’t go. And on those rare occasions when I do get dragged to the club—Terry thinks it’s important that we be seen in public together once in a while—I’m free to leave at any time. Knowing I can get on a Lime scooter and go home whenever I want makes me feel less pressured to stay, PD, which often results in me hanging out at the club a little bit longer than I would’ve if I didn’t have the option to leave.

P.P.S. Yes, I’m too old for the club. And so is Terry—but don’t tell him I said so.

I’m a gay man in a long-term relationship with a wonderful boyfriend whom I love deeply. We’ve been together for many years, and I want to make clear from the outset that my concern isn’t about his appearance. I love him exactly as he is, and I would continue to love him at any weight. The complication is that I’m very much into bears. My boyfriend already has a bit of a belly, which I find incredibly attractive. Recently, he’s become interested in gaining a significant amount of weight and has talked about wanting me to actively help him get much fatter. He’s excited by the idea of being fed, encouraged to eat more, and embracing a much larger body.

I’m trying to navigate this respectfully. On the one hand, I don’t want to be fatphobic or assume that bigger automatically means unhealthy. I also don’t want to shame him for a fantasy or a body type that I genuinely find attractive myself. On the other hand, what he’s proposing isn’t just letting his weight change naturally over time. He’s talking about deliberately gaining a lot of weight fairly quickly, which would likely involve consuming large amounts of fatty, greasy, sugary foods on a regular basis. My concern isn’t aesthetic—it’s whether actively participating in helping someone gain substantial weight in this way could have serious long-term health consequences.

Part of me worries that if I go along with it, I’d be enabling behavior that could increase his risk of health problems down the road. Another part of me worries that if I resist, he’ll hear it as rejection or judgment of his body. How should a partner balance respect for a loved one’s bodily autonomy, sexual fantasies, and personal choices against legitimate concerns about their health? Is there a way to support him and remain sex-positive without feeling like I’m helping someone I love harm himself?—Concerned Bear Lover

Your boyfriend wants to get bigger. You wouldn’t mind a bigger boyfriend. The thought of getting bigger turns your boyfriend on. The thought of him being bigger turns you on. (We’re clearly in kink territory here.) To me, that seems like a Kink Yahtzee: your boyfriend’s kink is your kink, and your kink is his kink. It’s a win-win-win-win… Or it is the short term. Because over the long term, CBL, obesity carries health risks. The choice your boyfriend wants to make—rapid and significant weight gain—increases his risk for diabetes, heart disease and early death. But our bodies are ours to use, ours to enjoy, and ours to use up. So, while your boyfriend’s decision to get big fast could result in serious long-term health consequences… so could some person’s decision to smoke or go snowboarding without a helmet. Your boyfriend is an adult, CBL, and adults get to make their own (hopefully) informed decisions about the risks they’re willing to run in pursuit of happiness as they define it.

But just as your boyfriend needs to consider the health risks, CBL, you need to consider the moral hazards. Because if your boyfriend’s goal isn’t just to get bigger but to get morbidly obese— if he’s committing suicide by cheeseburger and you’re the one setting cheeseburgers in front of him—then you would not be helping your boyfriend explore a risky kink in a RACK-ish manner, CBL, you would be assisting your boyfriend in his self-destruction. But if you’re able to enjoy this kink together without going nuts… and if your boyfriend is going into this with his eyes (and not just his mouth) wide open… and if you can find a plateau weight where he’s bigger but still relatively and reasonably healthy… then you can build that bear with a clear conscience. Got problems? Email mailbox@savage.love! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

Legals

Notice of Public Sale Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell, to satisfy lien of the owner, at public sale by competitive bidding on www.storagetreasures.com. ending on July 10th, 2026 at 10:00 am for units located at Compass Self Storage 1685 Hwy 17 N Eagle Lake Florida 33839 . Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at time of sale. All Goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase.

Compass Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid. Sale is subject to adjournment. The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes and appliances, unless otherwise noted. Unit 1101-1092 Jessica Evans Unit 2028 Mariah Velasquez Unit 2051 Michael Occhino Unit 2120 Natara Calhoun Unit 3127 Edmond Williams Jr. Unit 3144-3161 Kristan Edwards Unit 3166 Edgar Brito. Run Dates 6/25/2026 and 7/02/2026.

Notice of Public Sale Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell, to satisfy lien of the owner, at public sale by competitive bidding on www.storagetreasures.com ending on July 10th, 2026 at 10:00 am for units located at: Compass Self Storage 2291

S. Frontage Rd, Plant City, Florida 33563 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the time of sale. All goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase. Compass Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid. Sale is subject to adjournment. The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes and appliances, unless otherwise noted. Elizabeth Trice Unit 2041 Whidlean Hyppolite Unit 2074 Robert Ostwalt Unit 204 Evelyn Magadam Unit 200 Mercedes Milton Unit 2054 Michael Kaidel Unit 2250 Melinda Burnham Unit 1083 Run dates 6/24/2026 and 7/02/2026.

Notice of Public Sale Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell, to satisfy lien of the owner, at public sale by competitive bidding on www.storagetreasures.com ending on July 10th, 2026, at 10:00am for units located at: Compass Self Storage 3000 Mulford Rd. Mulberry Fl, 33860 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the time of sale. All goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase. Compass Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid. Sales are subject to adjournment. The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes and appliances, unless otherwise noted. UNIT 1012 - DOMINGUEZ, RACHEL UNIT 2031 - POLK, JEDD UNIT 2169TINSLEY, SAPHYRE UNIT 2005 - BERG, CHRISTINE UNIT 1015 - YZQUIERDO,

VICTORIA UNIT 1134 - CATLETT, CARMEN UNIT 5007 - TAYLOR, THOMAS UNIT 3007 - WATTS, JEREMY UNIT 4002 - WATTS JEREMY UNIT 2142 - BARRETT, ONEIL. Run dates 6/25/2026 and 7/02/2026.

PSA

Anencephaly is a tragic, 100% fatal birth defect that is largely avoidable.

If women of child bearing age took an inexpensive, readily available daily supplement, 50%-70% of anencephaly and spina bifida birth defects could be eliminated. Folic Acid (vitamin B 9) is critical to normal fetal development in the earliest stages, often before a mother knows she’s pregnant. Ask the women in your life; remind the women you love. https://www.anencephaly.info/

On view through April 18, 2027

More than a look back, the exhibition shows a museum in motion, one that evolves alongside its community, redefining how art, architecture and public space come together.

“Enigma” and iconic spiral staircase, explore unrealized concepts and get a glimpse at future expansion plans shaping the Museum’s next chapter.

Through original models, architectural drawings, photographs and immersive video, the exhibition traces the bold ideas, risks and design decisions that shaped the Museum. Visitors step inside the story behind the geodesic glass

The Dalí Museum pres ents , a special exhibition exploring the evolution of the Museum—from its unexpected beginnings in Ohio in 1971 to the striking waterfront building that has become a staple of the city’s skyline and creative identity.

What does it take to build one of St. Pete’s most recognizable cultural landmarks?

Yann Weymouth, c. 2008, white ink on black paper, Beck Archives.

A concept drawing of The Dalí Museum expansion, designed by Beck Architecture and PBK with Yann Weymouth.

DALI, tairS Study,

The Architecture of The Dalí

Including a look at a future expansion

Special Exhibition