OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 (VOL.39, NO.42) • $FREE CREATIVE LOAFING • CLTAMPABAY.COM
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3 WAYS 1 Preparing for Storms
Underground power lines, stronger poles and flood protection mean a stronger system with faster, lower-cost outage restoration.
WE'RE KEEPING POWER RELIABLE AND COSTS DOWN
2 Modernizing the Grid Power plant and grid upgrades improve efficiency and service while avoiding future costs. Recent upgrades at Polk and Big Bend Power Stations are expected to save customers $852 million over time.
3 Expanding Solar Energy Reducing fuel use with solar energy has saved customers more than $430 million since 2017. Learn more TampaElectric.com/PoweringValue
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Connect with collectors, galleries & buyers
ready to invest in original art.
Apply today:
artfairtampa.com ART FAIR TAMPA OCTOBER 15-18, 2026 TAMPA CONVENTION CENTER Art Fair Tampa brings together 300+ talented artists from across the country for four days of creativity, inspiration, and community. Explore stunning works across painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and more — all under one roof at the Tampa Convention Center.
VIP OPENING NIGHT OCTOBER 15, 2026 Be among the first to preview the collection, meet the artists, and acquire works before the doors open to the public. • COMPLIMENTARY WELCOME GLASS OF BUBBLY OR WINE • LIVE MUSIC & ARTIST DEMONSTRATIONS
get-in.com/artfairtampavip or scan the qr code ➞ ➞ ➞ cltampabay.com | OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 | 5
PUBLISHER James Howard CHAIRMAN Mike Trentalange EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ray Roa
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Having an art explosion in the Tampa area would be very good for the city.
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
Indoor art fair takes over 75,000-square-feet of Tampa Convention Center, p. 65.
Events and Marketing MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Leigh Wilson SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Jessica Prieto MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS COORDINATOR Kristin Bowman
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At the same time, it would reduce the amount of money local governments collect.
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Ballot amendments, explained, p. 37.
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/music New concerts, always /arts Microdose /news Sacred Heart expanding
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THANK YOU FOR VOTING THE CITY OF INDIAN ROCKS BEACH BEST BEACH TOWN!
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We’re taking a trip back outside the Creative Loafing Tampa Bay mailbag this week, and looking at the comments again, to see if the publication’s biggest supporters and haters and playing nice with each other and Zuckerberg’s bot army. We love feedback, so keep sending it, sharing it, and letting us know when we need to block somebody off our page (First Amendment rights don’t extend to social media comment sections; go spew that hateful shit in the middle of the street or something.) Here’s some of the stuff that floated to the top of Facebook over the last couple weeks. Scan the QR code to send us your feedback.— Ray Roa Bernie Sanders is coming to Ybor City to boost Angie Nixon’s US Senate campaign (read more on p.24) If he had come to Florida in his 2016 campaign as often as he is now, there may have been different results.—Gary Dreslinski What’s with the snide comments ? He’s free to hold a rally and support anyone he wants, just like Trump supporters do. That’s the problem with people, we cannot agree to disagree. I can’t stand Trump, but he has a right to hold a rally and support a candidate anywhere he wants to even though I don’t agree. I’ve decided that politics isn’t really a nasty business, it’s how we act.—Donna Jackson He was a bus boy when the Columbia Restaurant first opened in 1905, so he’s returning to his roots.—Jerry Smith Got my fart spray ready!—Don Thela I appreciate the warning. It’s always good to know exactly where the communist are at all times. Even though Trump is trying to get close to them.—Joseph Vadder New calculator allows you to see how your local roads, libraries and more will be impacted if Florida’s Amendment 3 passes This is honestly stupid. Some municipalities have Plan B. Some are “wait and see”. How do you calculate that? Shame on sharing this sort of political posturing no matter the angle.—Mike Bryant Anything you’ll save by voting yes will come back in the form of millage or service fee increases. Counties will be so strapped that they will unanimously vote for those increases so they can fund critical projects and services. All you praising this bill are so fixated on immediate gratification that you don’t realize the costs will come back to you in other ways, not to mention consequences of defunding huge portions of your communities’ budgets and naively thinking they can just operate with less when inflation and interest rates are high for them too. We shouldn’t vote for the first shit bill they offer, especially when it requires communities to beg for grant monies from Tallahassee
when all of their budgets are busted even after they cut what they can in “wasteful” spending which FYI means more job losses for your neighbors who work for your counties. I do think homestead exemption should adjust with the median home price, but not with how this bill is written. It’s a definite no for me.—Caitlin Elliott How your local gov decides to spend money cannot be shown with a little calculator equation. However, your homestead savings can be and that’s between $1-$3k / year for many people. That’s real money in your pockets. VOTE YES—Jake Hoffman Floridians are dealing with a grand jury indictment against DeSantis and Moody for $10 m. I prefer my local jurisdiction decide for my city. I see a lot of complaints in the comments but wonder when people went to a city council meeting to oppose anything?—Linda Pazos Pinellas sheriff tells commissioners there’s no connection between his national pro-Flock campaign and a Flock sponsorship worth $150K (read more on p. 33) If the flock camera can say, I am at point, x at a specific time. That’s being tracked. That’s almost like the definition of being tracked.— Kevin J Jensen Having worked with flock cameras for the past 8 years, the last of my 30+ year career in Pinellas county, I find it hilarious that all these people think they are being “tracked”. You all have NO clue what the cameras do. Keep going tho, I do get a chuckle reading about your paranoia.—Larry Palombo Lol.... the logical hoops you have to jump through... flock isnt “tracking” you... its just taking time stamped photos at each one that can be joined to map out where you’ve been and when you were there... the AI then does the rest.. so yeah A flock camera doesnt track you... but the network of flock cameras do..— Bryan Cramer If you do your job right. Communication between other police departments. You don’t need to spy on the people—Richard Matthews Court erases Hope Florida grand jury report, after an appeal that had no one on the other side to defend it So, it happened and we already know who did it but we can’t continue to see who did it because the judge that was appointed by the people who did it said we couldn’t see it and the people who did it paid over $300,000 to attorneys to tell the same judge that we couldn’t be allowed to know who did it or we might not vote for who did it . So the people who did it will be able to do it again. Free State of Florida!—Steve Kiley If DeSantis and Uthmeier think this ruling will make this go away they are mistaken as it appears many Florida residents feel otherwise—Craig Mozhdehi
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Every pet deserves to feel safe, cared for, and loved. HELP THEM GET A SECOND CHANCE. This September, love can save a life. Friends of Strays is raising critical funds to save more cats and dogs in Tampa Bay and Florida – but we can’t do it without YOU!
LOVE UNLEASHED 30 Days to Save More Lives DONATE TODAY and give a sick, injured, or homeless pet a chance to feel cared for and loved at friendsofstrays.org/love-unleashed or scan the QR code.
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The best around
Photos by Caesar Carbajal, Nick Cardello, and Ryan Metcalf
I
t’s been a long time since Creative Loafing Tampa Bay held its annual Best of the Bay party in the 727, but readers came out in force last week to celebrate winners and finalists in the 2026 edition. Held at the Coliseum, as our latest home at the Hard Rock Event Center is under renovation, the community came together at St. Petersburg’s gorgeous 101-year-old Coliseum for a night of food, drink, music, and shenanigans. All of it was to toast more than 500 Readers Pick winners and Finalists, plus over 100 Critics Picks and an inaugural class of Best of the Bay All-Stars. Hell, there was even a full-size CL newspaper box cake by BOTB All-Star The Cake Girl. Thanks to the roughly 2,000 of you who came out in that rain to party alongside some of the best restaurants and bars in town—there’s no Best of the Bay without you. If you couldn’t come, please stay tuned for announcements on a pair of no-cover Best of the Bay “hangover” parties where you can pick up your award, take a picture, and meet new friends. See more photos via cltampa.com—Ray Roa
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do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from October 15 - 22. See more on pp. 57, 69, 71 & 74, and 79 Bern’in desire
The Tampa Bay area is going to feel the Bern when Vermont’s Independent Senator comes to Florida for a couple days of campaign rallies, including this stop alongside Florida lawmaker Angie Nixon. Rally capacity for the courtyard at the famed Ybor City venue has not yet been announced, but the space once hosted more than 4,000 people for a Phoebe Bridgers concert in 2022. It makes sense that the 85-year-old U.S. Senator, and one of modern American politics’ OG pro-worker lawmakers, is coming to Ybor City to boost the campaign of a 42-year-old woman who could be the future of a more people-centric Democratic party. Ybor City’s history is rooted in worker-driven movements, where regular people joined labor unions to create better job conditions and founded mutual-aid societies that built infrastructure to ensure more people lived dignified lives that included healthcare. That history has been outlined in walking tours led by Tampa’s Democratic Socialists.
Fighting Oligarchy — Where We Go From Here with Bernie Sanders & Angie Nixon: Saturday, Oct. 17. 11 a.m. No cover, RSVP requested. Cuban Club courtyard, 2010 Avenida Republica de Cuba, Ybor City. act.berniesanders.com—Ray Roa GAGE SKIDMORE
Fall in
CITYOFSTPETE/FLICKR
Four years after its founding, the Ybor Arts Tour is going strong and making plans for its fall excursion. A press release says the no-cover, self-guided public tour highlights the district’s galleries, along with visual artists, live performers and literary scene. More than a dozen venues are part of the fall Ybor Arts Tour including Tempus Projects, HCC’s Gallery 114, the Kress Contemporary, Lara’s art speakeasy, the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Retro House, and more. “The Ybor Arts Tour is one way we highlight our neighborhood’s creative identity amid rapid change. As Ybor evolves, it’s crucial to keep its artistic spirit visible, supported, and celebrated,” Tracy Midulla, Founder and Director of Tempus Projects, added in the release. Ybor Arts Tour: Thursday, Oct. 15. 4 p.m.-9 p.m. No cover. Various venues, Ybor City. kresscontemporary.com/yborartstour—Leif Helland
Folk yes
DAVE DECKER
Most charity events follow a familiar script. You put on clothes that are slightly too nice. You eat a chicken breast of uncertain origin. Someone with a microphone reminds you, several times, how much the cause needs you. You leave having done good and had, at best, an OK time. Good Folk Fest has torn up that script and replaced it with live blues, food trucks and shuffleboard. Creative Clay brings its annual festival back with a refreshingly simple pitch: come have a genuinely good night, and the night pays for something that matters. Every ticket sold supports Creative Clay’s programming, which gives artists with disabilities the studio time, instruction and opportunities that let them develop as artists rather than simply be included as a gesture. Read more by finding this post at tbartspassport.com or on cltampabay.com.
Good Folk Fest w/Betty Fox Band: Saturday, Oct. 17. 6 p.m.-9 p.m. No cover (donations accepted, and tiered tickets available). St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, 559 Mirror Lake Dr. N, St. Petersburg. creativeclay.org—Avery Anderson/TB Arts Passport
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See more (and submit your event) @ cltampa.com Fortune teller
There might not be one gotdamn soul in Tampa that knows more about Madame Fortune Taylor Ranson than Gloria Jean Royster (pictured, left, along with fellow historian and preservationist Brandie Miklus). The Tampa-based journalist, author and historian can talk circles around the stories about the formerly enslaved woman who became one of Tampa’s most prominent 19th-century Black entrepreneurs and landowners. In 2017, Royster’s activism led local leaders to restore the name of downtown’s Madame Fortune Taylor Bridge, hopefully reminding residents and visitors alike that the city needed Taylor to help bridge West Tampa to the rest of the burgeoning city. On Monday, Royster invites neighbors to mark the anniversary of the renaming by spending any part of the day at the bridge, whether enjoying the views, or even the bats that fly out of the southeastern end as the sun goes down.
Celebrate Herstory: Monday, Oct. 19. All day. No cover. Fortune Taylor Bridge, Tampa. @fortunetaylorranson on Instagram—Ray Roa
Pupkin spice
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Jet (pictured) is a mutt’s mutt, and a very good boy. He’s spoken for but he came from The Mercy Full Project (MFP), a Tampa-based nonprofit working on animal rescue, pet food assistance and community projects. To date, MFP has matched more than 500 cuddly boys and girls with owners, and this weekend it hosts a Halloween fundraiser and adoption event at downtown Tampa dive bar The Hub. DJ Silence will spin, and there raffles, a pet costume contest and more planned while bartender Kamran Mir (Jet’s dad) pours Gray Whale gin and Lucky One vodka drinks. Paw-loween benefiting Mercy Full Project: Sunday, Oct. 18. 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Donations accepted. The Hub, 719 N Franklin St., Tampa. @mercyfullproject on Instagram —Ray Roa C/O KAMRAN MIR
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“I’m not being bought and paid by anybody, and that’s a bunch of B.S.” POLITICS
ISSUES
OPINION
In commission
Pinellas sheriff: no connection between pro-Flock campaign and sponsorship worth $150K. By Valerie Smith exhausted after a long round of questioning. Still, he disagrees with the sheriff’s argument that Flock cameras don’t track people. “It’s not physically tracking you, there’s no tracking device, but it is collecting people’s and vehicles’ movements, and it’s storing those movements in a chronological timestamped database to see where you go,” Nowicki told CL. Gualtieri said ALPRs have been in use for 20 years, prompting auditing concerns. He reassured the commission that this wasn’t new technology, and said his office had used ALPRs for 20 years Commissioner Brian Scott was alarmed by this figure. He mentioned the deputy arrested last month for allegedly searching the sheriff’s ALPR database 200 times for a love interest. Scott noted that a media inquiry—made by TCPalm reporter Jack Lemnus—was the reason for the audit. “We’ve had these in place
LOCAL NEWS
for 20 years. Have we been under-auditing for 20 years?” Gualtieri said that a review of the audit system was underway before saying that “we’re not gonna catch everything.” ALPRs buy $450,000 worth of MCSA sponsorship Flock, Motorola and Axon are each “sheriff level” MCSA sponsors, according to MCSA’s website—the highest sponsorship package the organization sells. Each of the five available slots costs $150,000 and comes with benefits including a speaking role at the conference, being featured in the organization’s resource guide, and a “quarterly content post on YouTube.” The pitch from MCSA to its corporate sponsors says buyers will “form a powerful voice on issues of public concern in the law enforcement community.”
“Through your partnership with MCSA you will build long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with our member Sheriffs and their team. With exclusive access to the Major County Sheriffs, you will have the opportunity to work together to achieve common goals of communication, education, advocacy and research, and become thought leaders in the industry,” the pitch adds. A YouTube page linked on the MCSA website seems to have been removed. MCSA has a big banner on the front page of its website reading, “ALPR RESOURCES.” It’s also the very first option in the menu on the website. That leads to a page with five documents and the eight-minute video, all explaining how useful ALPRs are in helping fight crime and that they are not 4th Amendment violations. One document features Gualtieri’s headshot and his pro-ALPR message at the bottom. It also continued on page 35
PINELLAS COUNTY GOVERNMENT / PINELLAS COUNTY GOVERNMENT
P
inellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri is once again moving the needle on nationwide policy, this time to promote one of the most controversial pieces of police tech this decade: Flock cameras. Gualtieri leads the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA) , a group of sheriffs overseeing the nation’s largest counties. This year, Gualtieri is spearheading a national campaign through MCSA promoting Flock-style cameras. That was the subject of some controversy at the latest Pinellas County Commission meeting. Commissioners asked Gualtieri to come to its Oct. 8 meeting to answer their questions about automated license plate readers (ALPRs), which have received bipartisan backlash over privacy, stalking and 4th Amendment concerns. Gualtieri began with an eight-minute video produced by the Major County Sheriffs of America highlighting ALPR success stories. He said he’s used the video “across the country” to advocate for ALPRs, including in Washington D.C. “I think it is good background information, and it was produced in my capacity as the president of the Major County Sheriffs of America,” Gualtieri told the commission. The video highlighted an Alzheimer’s patient returned to his family, a six-year-old whose kidnapper was caught, and a serial rapist put behind bars. All, according to the video, done with the help of ALPRs. The video ended with a “myth busting” segment featuring Gualtieri himself. Later in the meeting, Commissioner Vince Nowicki asked Gualtieri about MCSA sponsorships from three ALPR companies. “The Major County Sheriffs of America … listed Flock, Axon and Motorola as major sponsors. Do you have any information on that?” Nowicki asked, also noting that MCSA put out a wealth of information supporting ALPRs. “What you’re insinuating’s offensive, so don’t even go there,” replied a visibly-frustrated Gualtieri. “I’m not being bought and paid by anybody, and that’s a bunch of B.S.” Nowicki said he wasn’t trying to insinuate anything. Gualtieri didn’t buy it, saying, “You knew exactly what you were doing.” Nowicki told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay he respects Gualtieri and believes the sheriff was
COMMISH’ PLEASE: Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri was visibly frustrated at an Oct. 8 county commission meeting.
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RAY ROA
LOOKING AHEAD: Then candidate Vince Nowicki at WMNF Tampa on Nov. 15, 2024. continued from page 33 features the six-year-old from the video alongside her kidnapper’s mugshot, and a quote from her that says, “I feel good because he’s in jail.” MCSA also signed a joint letter opposing a bill amendment that would have prohibited agencies from receiving federal funds if they use ALPRs. There are Constitutional concerns over the use of ALPRs One of the “myths” addressed in the video was the concern that ALPRs violate the 4th Amendment by invading one’s reasonable expectation of privacy. “FACT: Courts have ruled ordinary use of ALPR does not violate the constitution,” the video says. But this month—after the video was made—a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that an officer’s use of an ALPR database was an unreasonable search. Evidence obtained through that search had to be thrown out—including 91 pounds of meth. The judge said that a solitary ALPR camera isn’t unconstitutional, but a vast network of them can constitute an invasion of privacy. The judge’s opinion reads: “Think about it this way. We might reasonably expect our friends and family to tell us something like: ‘Hey, I saw you out driving by the store last week.’ But we do not expect people we know—let alone strangers, and especially not law enforcement—to randomly approach us to say: ‘Hey, I have been following your car for the last 30 days, and here is a detailed log of every place your vehicle has been with supporting photographic evidence. I am also going to share this information with law enforcement throughout the country so they know your whereabouts, too.’ Freedom from persistent, dragnet-style surveillance while in public is not a foreign concept in our society, and it is a reasonable expectation that society already accepts.” Beryl Lipton investigates police surveillance tech for digital civil liberties organization
Electronic Frontier Foundation. She told CL that ALPRs do track people, contrary to Gualtieri’s repeated claims that they don’t. “That is the whole premise of the license plate reader system, right?” she told CL. “If you have a car that is of interest—maybe because it contains a kidnapped child, maybe because it contains your ex wife—you will be able to find that vehicle more quickly using a license plate reader system.” “So I don’t know if we’re just working on different definitions of ‘track,’ but license plate readers certainly can be used to track individuals or at least to get a very good idea of where they have been and at what time,” she continued. Lipton said that the current goal of a lot of police tech is to figure out how to unify multiple datasets, including ALPR data and cell phone data that police purchase from digital ad brokers. Another top-level MCSA sponsor—controversial police software company Peregrine—aims to do just that. Lipton said an ordinary data point today could be a Constitutional privacy violation tomorrow as technology becomes more capable of uniting disparate datasets. The federal judge who ruled against ALPR use in Oklahoma noted that she was required to consider that possibility. “It is also no longer difficult to imagine law enforcement using a fleet of drones hovering over an entire city so they don’t miss the movement of a single vehicle,” her ruling reads. “This is not hypothetical catastrophizing. The Court ‘must take account of more sophisticated systems that are already in use or in development.’” Commissioners said they want to have more conversations with Gualtieri about Flock before voting on the tech. DeFlock St. Pete organizer Zach Schira previously told WMNF Tampa that he believes advocates for civil liberties should be included in conversations like that, and that commissioners shouldn’t rely exclusively on the opinion of the police when evaluating police tech.
LOCAL NEWS
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Making amendments
using the fund for critical state needs. A no vote would keep the current 10% limit and existing funding and withdrawal rules.
Florida ballot proposals, explained.
By Christopher Collier/Gulfport Gabber
T
he Gulfport Democratic Club hosted an educational presentation by the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area (LWV) at the Gulfport Neighborhood Center on Sept. 29. LWV Voter Services co-chair Heidi Rosenthal-Davis explained the proposed amendments on the 2026 Florida ballot and answered questions about their potential effects on residents and local services. Florida voters will decide on the three proposed amendments during this year’s Nov. 3 general election. Amendment 1: Budget Stabilization Fund Amendment 1 would expand Florida’s Budget Stabilization Fund, often called its rainy-day fund. It would raise the fund’s maximum balance from 10% to 25% of general revenue collections. General revenue is money the state collects from sources such as sales taxes and other taxes and fees that are not set aside for a specific purpose. The state would increase the limit over time. Lawmakers would generally put $750 million into the fund each year. If that amount would push the fund over its limit, lawmakers would
transfer only enough money to reach the limit. The amendment would also let lawmakers use the fund for one-time critical state needs if they meet certain requirements and approve the withdrawals. Florida last used the fund during the 2008 Great Recession. Rosenthal-Davis explained the arguments for and against Amendment 1. Supporters say a larger reserve would help Florida prepare for disasters and recessions. They also say it could help the state maintain strong bond ratings. Bond ratings measure how likely a government is to repay money it borrows. Strong ratings can help lower borrowing costs. Opponents say the required transfers could take money away from current needs and give lawmakers less flexibility when they build the state budget. When asked which side voters should support, Rosenthal-Davis said the presentation aimed to educate voters rather than tell them how to vote. A yes vote would approve the 25% reserve limit, required yearly transfers and rules for
could face greater revenue losses than Pinellas County, she said. A yes vote would create the property-tax exemption for qualifying agricultural and agritourism equipment and other tangible personal property. A no vote would keep the current tax rules and exemptions.
Amendment 2: Agricultural Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption Amendment 2 would remove property taxes from certain agricultural equipment and other Amendment 3: Homestead Exemption and tangible personal property. Tangible personal property means physical items that people or Non-Homestead Assessment Caps businesses own, such as equipment, machinery, Amendment 3 would increase Florida’s and tools. Rosenthal-Davis cited tractors, com- homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and bines, and other farm machinery as examples. $250,000 in 2028. A homestead exemption The property would reduces the taxable value have to normally sit on of a home that qualifies as a land classified as agriperson’s primary residence. 2026 General Election cultural and be used for The exemption would then
ELECTIONS
Early voting: Oct. 24-31; farming or agritourism. increase with inflation. Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3 The landowner or leaseThe change would dos.fl.gov/elections holder would also have to lower the taxable value of own the property. The exemption would apply a qualifying home. However, the larger exempto qualifying equipment and other items, not tion would not apply to school district taxes. the land itself. This means homeowners would not receive the Rosenthal-Davis explained that supporters larger exemption when calculating the portion see the exemption as a way to help Florida’s agri- of their property taxes that funds local schools. cultural industry. Opponents question whether According to the state’s explanation, homethe state should give one industry a tax break if owners who live in Florida permanently by Dec. it means local governments collect less money. 31, 2026, could receive the larger exemption The impact would vary across Florida. without a waiting period. People who become Counties with substantial agricultural activity continued on page 40
IT’S TIME: Early voting starts Oct. 24.
DAVE DECKER
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permanent Florida residents after that date would generally receive the larger exemption in their fifth year of receiving the homestead exemption. People who move to Florida after Dec. 31, 2026, would generally have to receive the homestead exemption for four years before receiving the larger amount in their fifth year. The amendment would also lower the yearly cap on increases in the assessed value of nonhomestead properties from 10% to 5%. The change would slow the growth of a property’s taxable value but would not directly limit the property tax bill. The proposal also lists how counties and cities could use property-tax money. These uses include public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resources, debt payments, retirement costs, and government operations. Local governments could still spend money on other approved needs unless state law prohibits it. The larger homestead exemption could lower property taxes for qualifying homeowners. At the same time, it would reduce the amount of money local governments collect. RosenthalDavis said the impact would vary from one community to another. Local governments could respond in several ways, she said. They could cut spending, raise millage rates, or increase fees. Millage rates
determine how much property owners pay in property taxes. Libraries and parks and recreation programs could face budget pressure. Residents could also see higher parking charges or new fees for services that previously did not have a separate charge. Those changes could reduce some of the savings homeowners receive from the larger exemption. Renters could also face higher costs if landlords pass along higher expenses, RosenthalDavis said. A yes vote would approve the larger homestead exemption, lower the annual assessment-increase cap for non-homestead properties, and set rules for local property-tax spending. A no vote would keep the current homestead exemptions, 10% non-homestead assessment cap, and spending rules. Rosenthal-Davis encouraged residents to review their local budgets and visit vote411.org for more information about the amendments. This post first appeared at The Gulfport Gabber, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@cltampa.com. Help the Gabber keep publishing by making a donation.
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Broken promise
Vote ‘No’ on retaining Florida Supreme Court Justice Carlos Muñiz. By Ray Roa
OP-ED
STATE OF FLORIDA
O
n Nov. 3, Florida voters will find a quesIn 1980, Florida voters did something most tion near the bottom of the ballot that most states never did. They added an explicit right will skip: “Shall Justice Carlos G. Muñiz of privacy to their constitution, protecting every of the Supreme Court be retained in office?” person’s right “to be let alone and free from Don’t skip it. governmental intrusion” into private life. Nine This recommendation isn’t made lightly, years later, in “In re T.W.,” a unanimous Florida but vote “No.” Merit retention is not a referen- Supreme Court held that this right protects a dum on whether voters like a judge’s politics, woman’s decision whether to end a pregnancy. and we have long resisted treating it as one. It That court included justices appointed by govasks something narrower: Has this justice done ernors of both parties, and one member who the job the way it is supposed to be done? The had helped shape the privacy amendment itself. answer this time turns on a principle older than The ruling was not an outlier that slipped by any of the controversies before the court today. unnoticed. The court reaffirmed it in2017 and That principle is stare decisis, Latin for “to again in 2003. For 35 years, Floridians, their stand by things decided.” When a court has doctors and their legislators organized their lives answered a question, it keeps that answer unless and laws around it. Whatever one thinks of aborthere is an overwhelming reason to change it. tion, that is exactly what settled law looks like. U.S. Supreme Court Justice In April 2024, Justice Louis Brandeis put it plainly Muñiz joined the majority that swept it away. The court held nearly a century ago. In most matters, he wrote, “it is more that the privacy clause had 2026 General Election never protected abortion at important that the applicable Early voting: Oct. 24-31; rule of law be settled than that all. That decision immediately Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3 dos.fl.gov/elections it be settled right.” triggered a six-week ban, earThat can sound strange. lier than many women know Shouldn’t courts always get it right? But they are pregnant. Nothing in the constitution’s Brandeis understood something essential. Every text had changed. The facts had not changed. judge believes they are right; that is why judges What had changed was the court’s membership. disagree. If each new majority were free to undo At oral argument, Justice Muñiz openly the work of the last, the law would mean what- questioned whether the court should keep recever the most recent appointments say it means. ognizing the right. In a separate opinion that Families, businesses, doctors and patients could year, he wrote of a “pre-constitutional, objective not plan their lives around a law that shifts moral reality” in the constitution’s Declaration with the court’s memberof Rights. Anti-abortion ship. Settled law is not a advocates read that pasconcession to error. It is sage as a signal that the the backbone of the rule court might go further of law, the principle that still. A justice who treats courts are bound by more a 35-year-old precedent than just the fleeting prefas an open question, and erences of whoever holds invites the next challenge power at the moment. in the same breath, has Florida’s Supreme Court once took that prin- not settled the law. He has unsettled it. Justice Jorge Labarga, alone in dissent, did ciple seriously. Before overruling a precedent, it asked a series of questions. Has the rule proved not mince words. “Roe v. Wade” had dominated unworkable? Have people come to rely on it? Have public debate for seven years when Floridians the facts or the law changed? In 2020, shortly adopted their privacy amendment in 1980. That after Justice Muñiz arrived on the court with no dominance, he wrote, “makes it inconceivable that prior judicial experience, the DeSantis appointee in 1980, Florida voters did not associate abortion joined a majority that discarded that framework. with the right of privacy.” He lamented that the From now on, the court said, it would overrule a majority had supplanted “Florida voters’ underprecedent whenever a majority found it “clearly standing—then and now,” and he dissented “with erroneous.” Reliance and stability would no lon- deep dismay.” Justice Labarga was appointed by ger carry independent weight. The case was a a Republican governor and has served as chief death-penalty appeal, but the rule it announced justice himself. For six years he has been the reaches every area of Florida law. court’s lone voice warning that Florida law is Nowhere has the cost been clearer than being rewritten not because the law changed, on abortion. but because the court’s membership did.
“Merit retention exists so that voters can hold accountable the justices they never chose.”
SUPREME MISTAKE: Justice Carlos G. Muñiz. The same approach has reached the civil courthouse. In 2020 the court, on its own initiative, abandoned a summary-judgment standard Florida had followed since 1966. That standard kept genuinely disputed cases before juries. Unable to call its own precedent clearly erroneous, the court simply rewrote the rule. Justice Muñiz joined. Justice Labarga “strongly” dissented, warning of the intrusion on the role our Constitution gives to juries. Some will argue that a “no” vote politicizes the courts. The opposite is true. Merit retention exists so that voters can hold accountable
the justices they never chose. No Florida Supreme Court justice has ever lost a retention election, which means this check exists in theory only. Readers who welcomed the court’s abortion ruling should ask themselves a question. Would they accept the next majority reversing it just as easily? A right that lasts only until the next appointment is no right at all. That is true of every right, not just the ones we favor. Better that the law be settled than settled right. Justice Muñiz has chosen otherwise. Voters should decline to retain him.
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“I just need a little push.” RESTAURANTS
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Pass the hat
Rene’s needs help after another fire, and more local food news. By Valerie Smith
R
ene Valenzuela is Tampa’s own phoenix; the 55-year-old chef has risen from the ashes before, and is asking for help to do it again. The V.M. Ybor location of Rene’s Mexican Kitchen was heavily damaged in a fire on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Valenzuela has created a GoFundMe page to support reopening efforts. Valenzuela started Rene’s Mexican Kitchen as a food truck in 2018. The business has since grown to several trucks and the brick-and-mortar V.M. Ybor location in the shadow of El Reloj at J.C. Newman Cigar Factory, opened in 2023. A departure from the Taco Bus chain he also founded, Rene’s focuses on traditional Mexican fare, and hosts occasional prix-fixe dinners highlighting the best of Mexican cuisine. Like many chefs, Valenzuela has danced with fire before. While he was preparing to open Rene’s in 2018, Valenzuela was severely burned in a gas explosion, landing him in the hospital. After that incident, he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the restaurant felt like a “rebirth” from the ashes of his incident and the departure from Taco Bus. The V.M. Ybor location went up in flames while Valenzuela and employees were in the building due
to an issue with the circuit breaker. Nobody was injured in the fire, but the century-old building was built before modern fire codes. It went up quickly. After this fire, Valenzuela’s hoping for some help from the community to pay employees and restock the inventory destroyed in the fire. “I just need a little push,” Valenzuela’s GoFundMe reads. “If you love me a little, if you want to continue seeing us around in the community, if you want to keep eating our food, and you want to help me, and my family and my employees and their families please help out. Anything you can put in the hat.” As of publication, the GoFundMe for Rene’s Mexican Kitchen was at just over $12,000 towards its $20,000 goal. Those who need Rene’s tacos in their lives can catch the chef outside Lowry Parcade, located at 1213 W Waters Ave.
FOOD NEWS
Oktoberfest Tampa’s big downtown party rescheduled for Halloween weekend Oktoberfest Tampa organizers did not want people walking around in waterlogged lederhosen, so their big downtown party set for last weekend is now rescheduled for one of the biggest party weekends of the year.
Originally scheduled for Friday-Sunday, Oct. 9-11, the festival changed plans when Hurricane Isaias set a path towards the panhandle, with outer bands potentially bringing rain to the Bay area. Now the city’s largest, now 17-years-running celebration of craft beer and German libations is happening at the same time as Halloween. In an email, reps for Oktoberfest Tampa said they’re working with the City of Tampa and staging the 2026 edition on Friday-Sunday, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, still at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Tickets for the original date—including those bought at discount via CL deals—are still being honored. “The event and all activities will stay the same,” organizers told CL. For the uninitiated, Oktoberfest Tampa is a revered celebration that started at a yetto-be-developed Armature Works and then transitioned to the Curt just a short walk south on the Tampa Riverwalk. Traditional German beers—think pilsner, märzen, dunkel, hefeweizen, radler, and Oktoberfest—are the stars of the lineup, and come from both German breweries and the ones in our backyard (St. Pete’s Green Bench Brewing Co. always does a custom brew). Pours are big, too, including Das Boot options. It includes fun traditions like stein hoist, brat and sack toss, wench carrying, hammer swings, and more. Folks with facial hair might as well get a start on Movember and enter Oktoberfest Tampa’s beard and mustache competition, too.
HANDS, PLEASE: Chef Rene Valenzuela.
Tickets for the rescheduled Oktoberfest Tampa happening Friday-Sunday, Oct. 30-Nov. 1 are still available and start at $10. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s CL Deals platform has GA and VIP admission available at 50% off. —Ray Roa New restaurant from Food Network star Ray Lampe coming to Clearwater Beach Ray Lampe, also known as “Dr. BBQ,” is back. After selling the real estate that was home to St. Pete’s Dr. BBQ and Burnt Ends Tiki Bar in 2022, the Food Network star is back behind the grill, this time in Clearwater Beach at his latest concept Squiki Tiki with Dr. BBQ. Located within the Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach, at 100 Coronado Dr., new barbecue-tiki hybrid will offer “smoky BBQ classics like a pulled pork sandwich and St. Louis-style ribs, alongside creative dishes like a burnt ends bao and smoked shrimp summer rolls, complemented by a lineup of tiki-inspired cocktails,” says a press release. No exact opening date was announced, but Squiki Tiki hopes to debut sometime in December. “Squiki Tiki combines my passion for barbecue with Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach’s welcoming hospitality and commitment to the local community,” said Lampe, who was a contestant on Food Network’s “Chopped,” as well as “Tailgate Warriors With Guy Fieri” and American Grilled.” Squiki Tiki will be open for both hotel guests and the general public every day from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.—Colin Wolf
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Tampénos get a taste of its Spanish heritage with the Wines of Spain at Centro Asturiano de Tampa in Ybor City. Wines of Spain brings wine lovers together as the Ybor City landmark, located at 1913 N Nebraska Ave., prepares to celebrate its 125-year anniversary. The club, for the uninitiated, was once home to Cuban immigrants migrating to Ybor City, and its establishment as a mutual aid center in 1902. Attendees this weekend will raise a glass from a selection of 50 Spanish and Mediterranean wines, including reds, whites and dessert wines. Entertainment includes flamenco dancers, live music and a silent auction. More than just wine, the event offers a cocktail bar, Spanish-inspired tapas and a cigar lounge to smoke it all down.
Proceeds from Wines of Spain will go towards The Big Lift, a fundraising project that will renovate the historic gymnasium into a new communal space. “Every ticket purchased, and every glass poured, helps preserve this historic landmark while investing in its future, ensuring Centro Asturiano remains a place where our community can gather, celebrate, and connect for generations to come,” said Board Vice-President Daniel Martinez in a press release. Tickets for Wines of Spain at Centro Asturiano de Tampa, Oct. 16, 6 p.m.-9 p.m., are still available and start at $108.55. See a listing of more food & drink events happening across Tampa Bay from Oct. 15-22 below. Get yours listed by submitting the information to CL’s event calendar.—Leif Helland
Appy Hour Cooking Class - Chinese Dumplings Friday, Oct. 16. 4 p.m. $55. Foodie Labs, St. Petersburg. thefoodielabskitchen.com
Gala for the Straz Center Saturday, Oct. 17. 6 p.m. $800 & up. Morsani Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa. strazcenter.org
The Boil: Seafood & Crab Feast Friday, Oct. 16. 6 p.m. $120. Harpoon Harry’s Crab House, Tampa
Countess’s Manor: High Tea at Jekyll Hyde Park Saturday, Oct. 17. 10 a.m. $65. Jekyll, Hyde Park
Dishes & Wishes: A Taste of Tampa Bay Friday, Oct. 16. 7 p.m. $150. The Gathering at Armature Works, Tampa. dishesandwishestampa.com
Oktoberfest Wine & Beer Pairing Saturday, Oct. 17. 7 p.m. $36.38 & up. Aspirations Winery, Clearwater. aspirationswinery.com
Pairing with Pros: Beer & Food Pairing Cookbook Release Party Friday, Oct. 16. 5 p.m. No cover. Green Bench Brewing Co., St. Petersburg. greenbenchbrewing.com
A Finer Pour: Champagne Pairing Dinner x Pol Roger Tuesday, Oct. 20. 6 p.m. $315. Lilac at The Tampa Edition, Tampa. editionhotels.com
Deep Pine - Oktoberfest Beer Festival Saturday, Oct. 17. 3 p.m. No cover. Waypoint Bar & Grill, Palmetto. waypoint27north.com Dunedin Seafood and Music Festival Saturday, Oct. 17. 12 p.m. No cover. Dunedin Marina, Dunedin. oldebaycafe. com
Spirits Hard Launch (Fall specialty cocktail launch) Tuesday, Oct. 20. 7 p.m. No cover. La Sétima Club, Ybor City. lasetimaclub.com Cab Without Borders: Cabernets Around the World with Antinori Wine Dinner Wednesday, Oct. 21. 6:30 p.m. $125 & up. Birch and Vine, St. Petersburg. thebirchwood.com
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Showstopper
Cheers to Tampa Theatre, which could’ve been lost in 1976. By Ray Roa
FILM & TV
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O
n Thursday, Tampa Theatre puts a bow on its upgrades last April, 51 days after the theater weeklong reopening celebration by staging a closed to start its glow up. grand finale officially marking the historic On a May tour, Devin Dominguez, the thevenue’s 100th anniversary. The party starts out- ater’s vice president of development, dove into side with live jazz and a photographer taking the details, even taking it back to a smaller renophotos of folks in front of the marquee. There’ll vation in 2017 when the crew found an original be champagne, a souvenir program styled after seat in rough shape, then made a mold of the the one from opening night, comments from the- decorative side panel. They copied it for end ater leaders and Mayor Jane Castor, plus the caps on all the new seats to look like originals, 1924 silent movie “Sherlock Jr.,” soundtracked and even used the design for seats in the Taylor by the theater’s own mighty Wurlitzer and a rag- Screening Room, which opened in June 2024. time orchestra. Afterwards, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 For this restoration, EverGreene Overture” will play, accompanied by what the Architectural Arts brought in artisans from venue describes as “spectacular special effects all over the world to work alongside locals, too. made possible by 2026 technology.” Ornamental plasterer Diego Segura disIn an advance copy of his new book about the cussed the horsehair found in the old plaster (and theater’s first 100 years, late Tampa author, his- the hemp they’re using now), while Dominguez torian, librarian and archivist Andy Huse cites shared stories of old soda bottles from a comnewspapers in recreating the scene at opening pany that closed around 1898. One staffer found night on Oct. 15, 1926—and a piece of toast they think details how the theater was came from a WineFest. almost lost in the mid-’70s. The crew punched small Huse, who died last year holes in the old paint and Centennial Celebration at the age of 52, noted that looked at the samples under Thursday, Oct. 15. 6 p.m. $26 Tampa Theatre architect Tampa Theatre, 711 N Franklin St., Tampa a microscope to find the origtampatheatre.org John Eberson knew, “the inal colors and pigments. show begins on the sideThe results, Dominguez walk,” in this case under the iconic 60-foot said, went into a binder that includes historic Tampa blade sign (the one we see today is a images and works like “a really sophisticated replica installed in 2004). paint by number.” The guide helped painters Newspaper advertisements from Publix— with the job, which included correcting a preParamount’s theater chain that ran many vious repaint that put the right colors in the downtown movie houses, not George Jenkins’ wrong places. yet-to-be-founded grocery empire—boasted that Even the tiny “kitty toilet” in the women’s the venue’s “beauty will leave you breathless rooms was kept. The theater also tracked down and the entertainment will hold you spell- rare, out-of-production Vitrolite glass from a bound.” Inside, the ornate interiors Eberson had salvage dealer in St. Louis so that all the bathcome to be known for delivered on that promise. rooms could be properly restored. All 1,600 tickets to the opening night gala, And up roughly six stories of scaffolding last Huse noted, sold out in two hours and cost just May, some members were given a chance to see 75 cents each. Tampa Theatre’s iconic night sky up close—and Tickets for Thursday’s finale are $26 before even touch it. The closure, in fact, has been a taxes and fees. That’s worth about $1.37 in 1926 once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience Tampa money. Jill Witecki, vice president and director Theatre in a context no one in history has before. of marketing & community relations at Tampa Ironically, the finale this Thursday could have Theatre, previously told Creative Loafing Tampa very well never happened. Bay that the venue didn’t want guests marking “This is a party for Tampa because 50 years the centennial to pay modern gala prices. ago Tampa rescued this building, and if they CL has followed the $24.5 million renova- hadn’t, we wouldn’t all be here today,” Witecki tion since the spring and got its first look at the told CL over the summer.
WELCOME BACK: Tampa Theatre on Nov. 17, 2025. Yup, at one point in its history, the mighty Tampa Theatre, now inarguably one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, was on the chopping block. By the late-’50s, trade had dropped off in downtown Tampa. Huse wrote that highways and urban renewal in the ‘60s and ‘70s brought dark days. By 1974, Tampa Theatre—falling apart, with an interior “covered with fifty years of dust and grime”—was an unprofitable tax burden for owners who signaled a desire to tear it down. On April 29, 1976, members of the preservation, historical and arts community joined then-Mayor Bill Poe to support his plan to accept a gift that would give Smyrna Halifax Theatre Inc.’s lease on the theater property to the city. Meeting minutes detail how Poe told council that the theater would be “a help in revitalizing the downtown area.” To pay for repairs, a companion motion asked to pull $150,000 leftover from a $4 million bond for a cultural complex. The plan and the motion to pay for repairs barely passed, both in 4-3 votes. Then-Councilwoman Sandy Freedman wasn’t convinced. Freedman—who became Tampa’s first woman mayor in 1986 before winning election eight months later—joined Council chairman Lloyd Copeland and then-Councilwoman Jan Platt in voting “No” for both motions.
Two days before Tampa Theatre’s finale celebration, Freedman told CL that while she didn’t support the motions, she was also not interested in tearing the building down. “I was just trying to be practical and fiscally conservative,” she said, alluding to the complicated nature of the lease transfer. “I’m glad it didn’t work out that way,” she said about her “No” vote at the time. “I think the theater is a great attribute for the city. It’s one of the few things that we still have standing that we haven’t torn down.” Charlie Miranda is the only councilmember from that 1976 vote who still works at city hall today. Councilman Lee Duncan made the motions, and Miranda, now 85 years old, seconded them. They were joined by Councilman Charlie Spicola and Catherine Barja, who became the first woman elected to council in 1971. Miranda, now serving his ninth term on council, told CL that his aunt and uncle used to take him to the theater as a kid; mom always made him wear a jacket since the air conditioning was so cold. “I remember all that like it was yesterday,” he added. Miranda said he has no ill feelings towards those who voted “No” and said that only about 600 people lived downtown at the time. “And those were the 600 that were in jail,” he joked. All in all, Miranda told CL, “It was a great thing that we did.”
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T&T: Tony Adams (L) and Tyler Sirota at CLTV studio in Tampa on Sept. 10, 2026.
PALM TREE CONTENT/CLTV
Dreaming big
Artrepreneur Tyler Sirota is taking chances, and cover, with Tampa’s first large scale indoor art fair. By David Warner
“W
hy dream small?” opportunities for local artists. JW Marriott, That’s the attitude of artrepreneur the Hyde House co-work spaces, and Water Tyler Sirota when it comes to realiz- Street Tampa’s Night Market are among the ing his dream: Art Fair Tampa, billed as “the venues where he’s brought artists and busiregion’s first major indoor fine art fair.” nesses together. The project is nothing if not ambitious: Sirota, 33, moved to Tampa in 2016 from 300-plus artists in 200 booths, showing over Syracuse, New York with his fiancée (now wife) four days, starting Thursday with a VIP “to escape the weather.” But the weather isn’t Collectors Night, and at a mammoth venue— always conducive to outdoor art shows, as he the 75,000-square-foot discovered while volunWest Hall at the Tampa teering for the Gasparilla Convention Center. Festival of the Arts (GFA) It’s certainly the bigin Curtis Hixon Park. He Art Fair Tampa gest art event Sirota Friday-Sunday, Oct. 16-18. Doors at 10 a.m. No started wondering, “Why has tackled—and he’s cover. VIP collectors night happening Thursday, not bring something like Oct. 15. 5 p.m. $50. West Hall at Tampa organizing it while also this indoors?” Convention Center, 333 S Franklin St., Tampa handling a day job as He got serious about artfairtampa.com assistant engineering his dream last year. “I manager and art curator at the Epicurean had conversations with important partners, Hotel in South Tampa. The former role involves we took the risk and made it happen,” he told “keeping everything looking proper” mainte- Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. He visited major nance-wise; the latter allows him to connect art fairs like Art Basel Miami Beach and its local artists with the hotel, hanging their work satellites, including Spectrum Red Dot, to which there on a revolving basis. It’s one of several he brought nine TT Collective artists in 2023. relationships he’s forged through the TT Art Those fairs, of course, operate on a much Collective (the TT stands for Tampa’s Top), more established—and expensive—level than which he founded seven years ago to create what Sirota’s organizing. For one thing, a booth
INTERVIEW
rental at Red Dot can cost anywhere from $9,000 to $20,000. Art Fair Tampa is charging $1,000$3,000. And where visitors’ tickets to Red Dot run in the $30-$70 range (and where Miami Art Basel itself charges hundreds or even thousands for passes), admission to Art Fair Tampa is free (with the exception of the VIP Collectors Night, which will be $50 a ticket). Miami’s fairs are known for record-breaking art sales and boundarypushing artworks (like Maurizio Cattelan’s infamous duct-taped banana). While no multi-thousanddollar bananas are slated for Art Fair Tampa, Sirota has rounded up some headliners that sound like fun—Instagram-ready installations like the Tesseract, “a 3-D look into the fourth dimension,” and works by the L.A.-based duo of Antonio Pelayo, a master inker for Disney, and his son Isaac, a painter known for his work in the hip-hop universe. Sirota has already encountered the kind of last-minute dilemma that can plague a project as big as this. Two weeks before opening, he got a call from the company from which Art Fair was
planning to rent walls for the artists’ booths. Their message, he says, was a “huge shock”: They wanted to jack up the price six times from the original estimate of $100,000. Sirota prefers not to name the contractor, someone he trusted and had worked with before, because “there are going to be some legal matters involved.” He did not have a signed contract with the company. At first this seemed like it might have been “my worst nightmare,” said Sirota. He contacted artists right away to warn them about the situation, and many started requesting refunds. Artists did not sign contracts with Sirota, but had expected walls to be provided. But he didn’t stop looking for a solution. “I was calling everyone from here to Timbuktu to put the pieces back together,” he added. A day later, he found a new contractor. In a follow-up text to the artists, he informed them that “our team worked around the clock and secured a new partner who has confidently stepped in to deliver our walls as promised.” continued on page 67
“I want people to come in with no expectations and be ready to be wowed.”
cltampabay.com | OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 | 65
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DAVE DECKER
The news was “a huge relief,” participating artist Clancy Riehm told CL. “I’m happy to have a nice way to display everything.” Riehm is one of many Tampa Bay or Floridabased artists in the show. Featured in CL’s Emerging Artists Issue earlier this year, Riehm’s colorful work fuses graphic design and fine art practices. A winner of design competitions sponsored by the Lightning and the Rays, she applied to Art Fair Tampa after seeing calls for applications on Instagram. She’d considered Red Dot, but it was too expensive, adding, “This is like a good middle ground, bigger than the standard indie flea market, smaller than Art Basel.” Worst case scenario? “I guess, like, no one shows up — giant empty space,” she added. “That wouldn’t be good.” That’s also a concern of Chase Parker, who was recently featured in Dunedin Fine Art Center’s “Wearable Art” show. Parker is known for striking works in which sculptural elements—most often, butterflies— burst from the frame. He sold his first butterfly piece out of a show at the Epicurean. He has shown at the GFA and at fairs in Miami and Austin. “I want to see Art Fair succeed because I want to see Tampa succeed,” he told CL. “But a four-day show is a lot. You need people circulating all four days…. You can’t have a bunch of artists sitting around complaining.” That’s not a big concern of Tony Adams (aka @ArtXTony). “Even if no one comes,” he said during a recent, sponsored, CLTV podcast, “I’ll make connections with other creatives. But listen, people are coming! There’ve been people in my home town that haven’t seen my work!” The ebullient Adams had been painting only for himself to de-stress from his pool cleaning business until he attended one of Sirota’s shows at the Epicurean. Since then, his painting career has taken off; he’s shown at the hotel and other venues (he was one of the nine artists TT Art Collective brought to Red Dot) and now his dynamic, eclectic works will be on view at Art Fair Tampa. He’s excited about introducing Tampa Bay collectors to artists “who have been in their back yards, just kinda under their noses.” And he dreams of bigger things. “During art week in Miami, the entire city is lit up,” he said. “Having an art explosion in the Tampa area would be very good for the city.” Tracy Midulla has some doubts about that. The founder and director of Tempus Projects and director of curatorial and community affairs for the Kress Contemporary complex in Ybor City, she doesn’t see the fair expanding into something like Miami’s Art Week. “We don’t have the collector base or the
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 | 7 PM
FAIR SHAKE: Clancy Riehm’s colorful work fuses graphic design and fine art practices. infrastructure,” she said. On the other hand, she says, that base is growing—perhaps helped by Tempus panels like their recent “Go Ahead Buy Some Art.” And while she is not involved with Art Fair Tampa and hasn’t worked with Sirota, she said, “More power to him — it’s an admirable beast to try and tackle to the ground.” Andrew Trujillo knows from buyers. He’s the owner of Drew Marc Gallery, the elegant contemporary gallery in South Tampa, and he’s bringing a selection of his artists to Art Fair Tampa. “We’re really excited about it,” he told CL. “Tampa’s a booming city. There’s a huge influx of people moving here. If they market the fair correctly, it’s going to pull a lot of collectors.” Which is no doubt what Tyler Sirota hopes will happen. The fair, which will also feature attractions like live painting and sculpture, will need to make a big splash this year if his next dream is realized: “Make it bigger, better, badder in year two,” he said, “and take over the entire exposition halls.” But for year one, he’s got a simple request: “I want people to come in with no expectations and be ready to be wowed.” Full disclosure: Creative Loafing worked on advertising for the event, which has also garnered support from Visit Tampa Bay, among others.
INTERVIEW
cltampabay.com | OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 | 67
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Good gourds
Tampa Bay’s best pumpkin patches and fall activities.
W
hile pumpkin picking has been a beloved tradition for many American families for decades, the rise of social media in recent years has only made the activity more popular. This increased popularity, coupled with overall economic inflation, created a problem that Tampa residents Moe Lingerfelt and Candy Lingerfelt sought to solve. “We got started by noticing that there was a lack of both affordable and accessible pumpkin patches in South Tampa,” said Moe Lingerfelt. He said this lack of patches creates a situation where people must either commit an entire evening to travel to rural family farms, or put up with the higher prices found at local patches that cater to being trendy and aesthetic. In Fall of 2025, the Lingerfelts’ South Tampa Pumpkin Patch was born. Located at 3660 S Manhattan Ave., the patch offers thousands of pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes and colors. The couple puts meticulous effort into ensuring that the quality of their pumpkins meet their standards, as well as the expectations of their customers. “Every pumpkin that we sell, we touch by hand, it gets a visual inspection,” Moe Lingerfelt said. “It gets a unique barcode, it gets wiped down in an effort to resist pests and rotting, and then it gets categorized.” The South Tampa Pumpkin Patch will expand greatly for the 2026 season, and will include more display tables for pumpkins, an arts and crafts area for the kiddos, an expanded photo area (featuring the Lingerfelt’s Schip-APom, Charlie), and more food truck offerings. Although the patch is shifting many of the activities it includes, its pricing will remain the same, barring any extreme logistical difficulties. Moe said that the community’s positive response to their prices was the main driver in expansion for their second year of operation, and that it’s what sets them apart from other patches in the area. “We had people who walk there because they live nearby, and we had people who drove past the very expensive Hyde Park version of a pumpkin patch,” he said. “They didn’t want to stand in line for a $56 pumpkin. And then they came over and they were like, ‘Your large pumpkin is $24.’” The price of South Tampa Pumpkin Patch’s “base pumpkin” is set to remain at $6, and increases to $24 as the pumpkins get bigger. They will also have a few extra large pumpkins weighing around 50 pounds that will run closer to $50.
“They just appreciate it,” he said, when talking about the response from their clientele. “Doesn’t matter your economic status. They appreciated that it was an honest deal.” The South Tampa Pumpkin Patch is open weekends and expands hours during the week of Oct. 24. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; admission is free, and the patch is pet friendly. See more local patches and falltivities below, then head to cltampa.com/arts for this complete listing. Dave’s Pumpkin Patch Dave’s offers not only pumpkins, but hay bales, cornstalks, and a boatload of firewood, too. The Patch has supported local parent-teacher associations since 1998, and is pet-friendly. Monday-Friday, 1 p.m. - 8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Opens Oct. 1. No cover. 106 E Lumsden Rd., Brandon. daveschristmastreelot.com The Great Seminole Heights Pumpkin Patch The Hampton Terrace Community Association (HTCA) puts on a pumpkin patch each year to work towards their goal of building a sense of belonging in the neighborhood. Funds raised from the patch go towards the HTCA and the Seminole Heights United Methodist Church. WednesdayThursday, 5 p.m-8 p.m., Friday 4 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday Noon-6 p.m. Opens Oct. 7. No cover. 6111 N Central Ave., Tampa. myhtca.org Fox Squirrel Corn Maze Fox Squirrel features a family-friendly maze alongside other activities such as a pumpkin patch, hayrides, badminton, and even camel rides, encouraging city dwellers to venture out to the farm and immerse themselves in the country. SaturdaySunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sept. 26-Oct. 25. $15 after tax, kids under three are free. 6151 Varn Rd., Plant City. foxsquirrelcornmaze.com Pumpkin Parlour at Fat Beet Farm Porchkins Design & Delivery is best known for installing beautiful, elaborate pumpkin displays on the front porches of customers, but it also has a patch that’s perfect for Floridians who prefer to design their fall decor themselves. Located at Fat Beet Farm near Oldsmar, the patch features vibrant autumnal scenes and plenty of pumpkins. Monday-Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. No cover. 13830 W Hillsborough Ave., Tampa. @ tampapumpkinparlour on Instagram Morrow’s Pumpkin Patch Morrow’s takes the “photo op” side of pumpkin patches and dials it all the way up. The patch’s carnival theme, coupled with massive inflatable pumpkins and life-sized light-up lettering makes for a great place to get fall flicks. The “Fun Zone” also
A&E EVENTS
CITYOFSTPETE/FLICKR
By Olivia G. Gehm
CARVE DIEM: St. Pete’s Gallagher’s Pumpkin Patch is among the best in the Bay area. offers a great place for kids to play, as they have a large selection of inflatable games. No cover for patch, $15 for Fun Zone, kids under three are free. 10232 Big Bend Rd., Riverview. @morrowevents on Facebook. Heights Fall Festival Usually situated on the West Lawn of Armature Works, The Heights Fall Festival has something for everyone. Kids and families can enjoy bounce houses, a petting zoo and pumpkin painting, while the fall market and autumn-inspired treats make for a great weekend outing for friends and couples. Saturday, Noon-5 p.m., Sunday Noon-4 p.m. Oct. 10-11. No cover. 1910 N Ola Ave, Tampa. armatureworks.com Kerby’s Nursery While pumpkins look great on their own, nothing spices up a porch or courtyard quite like floral arrangements. Kerby’s Nursery will have lots of mums in stunning fall colors, plus a pumpkin patch and Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt. Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Opens Sept. 26. No cover. 2311 S Parsons Ave., Seffner. kerbysnursery.com. Gallagher’s Pumpkins and Christmas Trees Gallagher’s offers a perfect mix of high-quality pumpkins, seasonal treats and ingredients, and stunning backdrops for photos.
While the surrounding, commercially-developed area doesn’t exactly look conducive to such a beautiful patch, Gallagher’s vintage props and detailed decor help to immerse visitors in a fall wonderland. Monday-Sunday 9 a.m.-9 p.m. No cover. 7401 4th St. N, St. Petersburg. gallagherspumpkinsandchristmastrees.com Raprager Farms Fall Festival While some Fall Festivals are perfect for a morning or afternoon, Raprager makes it easy to spend an entire day browsing pumpkins, shopping and dining, and even playing paintball. Not only has the festival been hailed as one of the best by Guide to Florida, but the farm’s comprehensive offerings make it the perfect place for diverse groups. Friday 11 a.m.-11p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-9 p.m. $21 plus tax. 16907 Boy Scout Rd., Odessa. rapragerfarm.com. St. Pete Pier Pumpkin Patch Enjoy waterside pumpkin picking under gorgeous, botanical string lights at the St. Pete Pier Pumpkin Patch. Not only does this patch boast the typical pumpkin picking experience, but also offers “Putt the Pier” minigolf, new for 2026. Select dates and hours through Oct. 25. No cover for patch, minigolf tickets required. 600 2nd Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. stpetepier.org
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Simon DuPriest plays lead at Carrollwood Cultural Center and is part of a cast and crew of nearly two dozen people putting on the show opening Friday, Oct. 16 and running on select nights through Oct. 25. Tickets to see “Bat Boy: The Musical” at Carrollwood Cultural Center are $30-$35, and more information is at carrollwoodcenter.org. See more theater—plus book events, arts, entertainment, and more—in our weekly listings below. See the full listing via cltampa.com/arts.—Ray Roa “Halfway There” by Norm Foster Select times and dates through Saturday, Oct. 17. $60. Early Bird Dinner Theater, Clearwater A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder Select times and dates Friday-Sunday, Oct. 9-18. $19.70 & up. Gem Theater, Mulberry MAD Theatre of Tampa: Spring Awakening Select times and dates FridaySunday, Oct. 9-18. $33.64. Tropical Home Fine Art Gallery, Ybor City Jobsite Theater: Misery Select times and dates Wednesday-Sunday, Oct. 14-Nov. 8. $47.40 & up. Jaeb Theater at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Sophisticated Ladies Select times and dates Wednesday-Sunday, Oct. 14-Nov. 22. $21 & up. Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Sarasota Carrie: The Musical Select times and dates Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 15-Nov. 1. $32.50. Bradenton Kiwanis Theater at Manatee Performing Arts Center, Bradenton The Woman in Black Select times Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 15–18. $48. Murray Theatre at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater The Rocky Horror Picture Show Select times and dates Friday-Sunday, Oct. 16-25. $13.75 & up. Richey Suncoast Theatre, New Port Richey Constellations Select times and dates Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 15-25. $21 & up. The Off-Central Players, St. Petersburg New Tampa Players: Come From Away Select times and dates Friday-Sunday, Oct. 16-25. $22 & up. New Tampa Performing Arts Center, Tampa Wesley Chapel Theater Group: The Odd Couple (Female Version) Saturday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m. & Sunday, Oct. 18, 2 p.m. $20. Zephyrhills Lions Club, Zephyrhills Constellations Wednesday, Oct. 21. 7:30 p.m. $10 & up; pay-what-you-can. The OffCentral Players, St. Petersburg Dear Evan Hansen Select times and dates Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 22-Nov. 1. $35 & up. Stone Hall at Manatee Performing Arts Center, Bradenton
CARROLLWOODCULTURALCENTER/FACEBOOK
Since appearing in the Weekly World News in 1992, Bat Boy has been a part of pop culture. The tabloid has placed the halfbat-half-boy in places all over the world, but this musical comedy written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, explores how the child—named Edgar, mind you—was discovered in West Virginia. Not meant for anyone under 14 years old, the production that premiered off-Broadway in 2001 is a statement on belonging and fearing people who don’t look like us.
Bat Boy: The Musical
FALL & HALLOWEEN
Performer Purgatory: The Untold, Untrue Tale of The Florida Fairgrounds Saturday, Oct. 17. 8 p.m. $30. FloridaRAMA, St. Petersburg. Floridarama.art Pumpkin Painting Saturday, Oct. 17. 12 p.m. $15. Driftwood Cafe at St. Pete Pier, St. Petersburg. teakstpete.com Spooktacular Science Saturday, Oct. 17. 6–9 p.m. $20 & up. MOSI, Tampa. mosi.org Sarasota Fright Fest w/The Tomb of Terror/Virus Select times and dates FridaySunday, Oct. 16-Nov. 1. $13 & up. Sarasota County Fairgrounds, Sarasota. sarasotafrightfest.com Halloween at Leon’s Saturday, Oct. 17. 11 a.m. $15. Ballast Point Park Pavilion, Tampa. leonslobstah.com Howl-O-Ween at Sparkman Wharf Sunday, Oct. 18. 4 p.m. No cover. Sparkman Wharf, Tampa A Nightmare on Elm Street Monday, Oct. 19. 7 p.m. $13; $10 for members. Tampa Theatre, Tampa
Fangs: A Staged Reading Tuesday, Oct. 20. 7 p.m. $12 & up. The Beach Theatre, St. Pete Beach Ghosts of Tampa Theatre Tour Select times and dates Monday-Saturday, Oct. 19-31. $15; no cover for members. Tampa Theatre, Tampa. tampatheatre.org Misery Tuesday, Oct. 20. 7 p.m. $13; $10 for members. Tampa Theatre, Tampa Movie Night: Coraline Wednesday, Oct. 21. 8 p.m. No cover. Lower Deck, Tampa Who Haunts Pinellas County w/Brandy Stark Thursday, Oct. 22. 1 p.m. No cover. Gulfport Library, Gulfport. pplc.us The Blair Witch Project Thursday, Oct. 22. 7 p.m. $13; $10 for members. Tampa Theatre, Tampa Shadow of the Vampire Thursday, Oct. 22. 9:30 p.m. $13; $10 for members. Tampa Theatre, Tampa
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Ceramic Workshop with Kind Studio Thursday, Oct. 15. 5 p.m. $75; $60 for
members. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. mfastpete.com The Vampire Circus Thursday, Oct. 15. 8 p.m. $43.25 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater Writer’s Workshop: Black-Out Poetry Thursday, Oct. 15. 5:30–7:30 p.m. $20; $10 for members. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. mfastpete.com Jim Dine: Swaying in the Florida Night (Reception) Friday, Oct. 16. 5-8 p.m. No cover. USF Graphicstudio, Tampa Pattern and Pause: Meet the Exhibiting Artists Friday, Oct. 16. 6 p.m. $25; no cover for members. Chihuly Collection at Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg. moreanartscenter.org Push Art // Skateboard Deck Art Show (Opening night) Friday, Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. No cover. The Bricks, Ybor City. push-arttampabay.com Coastal Ballet of Florida: Dracula Saturday, Oct. 17. 7 p.m. $42 & up. Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo. coastalballetofflorida.org
continued on page 74
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cltampabay.com | OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 | 73
Out and about: Events happening in Tampa Bay (cont'd) continued from page 71
BOOKISH
Book Club: “Brawler” by Lauren Groff Thursday, Oct. 15. 10:30 a.m. No cover with registration. Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org The Spoonbill Reading Series (USF MFA) Friday, Oct. 16. 7 p.m. No cover. Corner Club, Tampa Meet Me at the Seahorse: A Traveler’s Notebook Experience Saturday, Oct. 17. 2 p.m. $50. The Paper Seahorse, Tampa. paperseahorse.com Backwards Travelers Book Club: “Hour of the Witch” by Chris Bohjalian Tuesday, Oct. 20. 2 p.m. No cover. Seminole Community Library, Seminole The Library Book Club: “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” by Rufi Thorpe Tuesday, Oct. 20. 6 p.m. $39.23. The Library, St. Petersburg. oxfordexchange.com Mystery Thriller Book Club: “Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy Tuesday, Oct. 20. 6:30 p.m. $10 & up. The Book Lounge, St. Petersburg. thebooklounge.com Andrew T. Huse’s Tampa Theatre: A Century of Stories Wednesday, Oct. 21. 7 p.m. No cover with RSVP. Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg. tombolobooks.com Everyday Clearwater: Behind the Scenes Tour of the Main Library
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COMEDY
Tee Sanders Thursday, Oct. 15. 7 p.m. $32. Funny Bone Comedy Club, Tampa Bassem Youssef Friday, Oct. 16. 6:30 p.m. $49.50 & up. Tampa Theatre, Tampa Earthquake Select times Friday-Saturday, Oct. 16-17. $42. Funny Bone Comedy Club, Ybor City Traumedy - Comedy for the Spiritually Unwell: Ace Anderson w/Lindsay Dorio/ Angela Hutchinson/Charlotte Jolley/ Shellie Bejar/Uma Lanzillotta Saturday, Oct. 17. 6:30 p.m. $44 & up. The Playground, St. Petersburg Zoltan Kaszas: Worldwide(ish) Tour Saturday, Oct. 17. 7 p.m. $35 & up. Tampa Theatre, Tampa ‘Grief Sucks’ A One Man Show By KevOnStage Sunday, Oct. 18. 7:30 p.m. $45.50 & up. Tampa Theatre, Tampa Urban Myth Comedy Storytelling: D.C. Benny w/Kerry McNally/Matt Fernandez/Lauren Dufault/GR Goodwin Thursday, Oct. 22. 7 p.m. $20. Green Light Cinema, St. Petersburg
NEWS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
LIVENATION
Debra Vivi Steinfeld (Artist talk) Saturday, Oct. 17. 6 p.m. No cover. Brenda McMahon Gallery, Gulfport. brendamcmahongallery.com Don and Cristina Williams: A Change of Seasons (Opening reception) Saturday, Oct. 17. 5 p.m. No cover. Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg. moreanartscenter.org Experience the Evolution of Nelson Fisher Gallery Saturday, Oct. 17. 5 p.m. No cover with RSVP. Nelson Fisher Studio and Gallery, St. Petersburg. nelsonfishergallery.com Tampa City Ballet: ‘La Séptima: The Salon’ Saturday, Oct. 17. 6 p.m. $50. Theatre Center at University of South Florida, Tampa. tampacityballet.com Watercolor Portraits by Laurie Edwards (Opening reception) Saturday, Oct. 17. 5:30 p.m. No cover. DRV Gallery, Gulfport. drvgallery.com Everything is Fragile: An Exploration in Cyanotype (Artist talk with Becca McCoy) Tuesday, Oct. 20. 7 p.m. No cover. Studio Grand Central & The Off-Central Players, St. Petersburg. theoffcentralplayers.org MonoPrint Workshop - Abstract Painting with Brayers Wednesday, Oct. 21. 6 p.m. $80. Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg. moreanartscenter.org Art After Dark: T-Shirt Screen Printing Pop-Up Thursday, Oct. 22. 5 p.m. $16; no cover for members (T-shirts $25; $20 for members). Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. mfastpete.com Photography Social & Networking Event Thursday, Oct. 22. 6 p.m. No cover. Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Ybor City. fmopa.org
Wednesday, Oct. 21. 5:30 p.m. No cover with registration. Clearwater Main Library, Clearwater. myclearwaterlibrary.com Book Discussion: “Babel” by R.F. Kuang Thursday, Oct. 22. 3 p.m. No cover with registration recommended. Town ‘N Country Regional Public Library, Tampa
City of Bartow: FY2026-2027 Budget & Amendment 3 Community Meeting Thursday, Oct. 15. 6 p.m. No cover. Carver Recreation Center, Bartow. cityofbartow.net Celebrate the Life of Bill Edwards Sunday, Oct. 18. 5 p.m. No cover. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg Urban Expansion Area Study — I-4 Corridor, Round #4, Community Meeting #1 Tuesday, Oct. 20. 6 p.m. Virtual (registration required). planhillsborough.org Hillsborough County LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus: Social & General Membership Meeting Wednesday, Oct. 21. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP required. Casa Jolly, Tampa. floridadems.org
SPORTS
Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay Hillsborough’s Veterans Fishing Tournament Saturday, Oct. 17. 7 a.m. $50 & up. Finns Dockside Bar and Grill, Apollo Beach. habitathillsborough.org South Florida Bulls Football vs. Kent State University Golden Flashes Football Saturday, Oct. 17. 7 p.m. $20 & up. Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks Saturday, Oct. 17. 4 p.m. $47.20 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, Oct. 18. 1 p.m. $189.10 & up. Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Tampa Bay Sun Foundation Free Youth Soccer Clinics Various dates Aug. 7-Spring 2027. Free. Select locations across Tampa Bay
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REVIEWS
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MUSIC WEEK
Having friends
Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail’s co-headlining tour is a celebration of lives worth living. By Ray Roa
O
C/O SOPHIE ALLISON
ver the summer, Earthlings saw Mercury, run where they’re both pals with the openers, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune too. “Everything is super open and everybody align in the morning sky. Thirteen months wants to hang out. It’s great,” Allison, who also earlier, a similar six-planet alignment swapped started her band in 2015, said. Venus for Mars. The skies don't get to see that Jordan agreed, adding that it’s nice to be on kind of theater often. the road with people that don’t make her nerAnother rare celestial occurrence happened vous. “Sometimes I feel like I’m just gonna be a last June when Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail really like ugly version of myself, or like they’re announced a co-headlining tour with two Florida gonna get sick of me or something, or I’m gonna stops, including one in Tampa this weekend. get sick of them,” she added. Fans of the beloved rock bands had waited over Not even close with Allison. Jordan said a decade for the announcement and have appar- music friendships can be deeper than ones that ently been a little shellshocked and ridiculously are outside of the industry. reverent about it, too. There’s not a lot of “Too respectful,” handwringing when it Lindsey Jordan, who comes to the work of being founded Snail Mail in on tour either. Snail Mail is Snail Mail & Soccer Mommy 2015, told Creative Loafing supporting Ricochet, which w/Scarlet Rae Tampa Bay. The 27-yeardropped in March, and Sunday, Oct. 18. 6 p.m. $47.48 Orpheum, 14802 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa old was talking about a Soccer Mommy is between theorpheum.com new generation of indiealbums, having recently rock fans who notice her released a one-off single, outside the venue but refuse to bother her. “Rings of Saturn,” which she told CL should not be “They’re too shy, or they think it’s shitty, an indication of the sound on any new full-lengths. a boundary pushing imposition, but what it “I think it’s in the direction, maybe,” Allison really is is a part of the job,” said. “It was more kind of a Jordan said, adding that chance to experiment with they would totally make some new stuff, with a difthe ask. “Don’t just stare ferent type of sound, and at me. I’ll walk away. I’m just take a song that would happy to do it.” just not get made otherwise, On a Zoom call with and try to make something Creative Loafing Tampa fun with it.” Bay after a soundcheck in Wisconsin last Friday, They alternate slots each night and play a Jordan wouldn’t speak for her tourmate, but few covers together: “Vapour Trail” by Ride, and promised she herself does not bite. “Sophie will one from Liz Phair. bite. It’s crazy,” she laughed. “I’m thinking about learning a new one. “I will give you the signature. You’re just gonna So there might be more coming,” Allison said. get bitten,” Sophie Allison replied, cracking up. “We’ve got another one too that’s in the It’s not surprising to see the duo, which books. That comes along with a surprise appearcame up together playing the house show scene ance,” Jordan promised. in Nashville, in a great mood. For as much as In between that practice though, is just fans have been wishing for the 19-stop tour that hanging out. started late last month, Jordan and Allison, 29, They see movies together on off days. have waited just as long. “Primetime” got a screening, but Jordan missed The two are real life best friends, and not “Other Mommy” because she was taking care having the pressure of making new friends of her American Eskimo dog Pip, who is on with tourmates is just one of the perks of this tour with her.
INTERVIEW
“I actually feel like we have known each other for a really long time.”
MOVIE NIGHT: Lindsey Jordan (L) and Sophie Allison. On the call, they both nerded out over Allison’s advanced copy of the new Jane Schoenbrun book “Public Access Afterworld,” and mentioned that they saw the director and author a few days ago. “I really want a signed copy,” Jordan said. “You probably got one, too,” Allison replied, alluding to the green room gift bag from Madison bookseller A Room of One’s Own. “I hope so,” Jordan added. The PS5 Jordan used to lug on tour has been retired after some controllers were damaged, so she’s rocking the Steam Deck instead. Allison, for her part, is taking a break from “Stardew Valley” and playing “Fields of Mistria” instead.
Their only regret, perhaps, is that the tour won’t find them together on the greatest holiday in the calendar year. “I’m playing a Halloween show like a fucking idiot,” Jordan joked. “Gotta send Pip to college.” At the end of the day, Jordan and Allison are just happy to be on the road, and at work, together, celebrating with a fanbase that’s pretty much just as supportive. “I actually feel like we have known each other for a really long time,” Jordan noted, looking at Allison. “This. This is my friend.” “I like having friends,” Allison added. “I don’t like making them.”
cltampabay.com | OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 | 77
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THU 15
C Clearwater Jazz Holiday: The Wood Brothers w/Larkin Poe/Sheila E. & The E-Train/Chris Botti/Dumpstaphunk/Big Sam’s Funky Nation/Arturo Sandoval/ Norside/Carl Fischer & Sunshine City Brass/more As it nears a half-century of festivals, Clearwater Jazz Holiday has set the table for its big party this week. The 2026 lineup includes almost two dozen acts like trumpeter Chris Botti (playing on night one), Prince collaborator Sheila E., Cuban-American multi-instrumentalist and composer Arturo Sandoval, sibling roots-rock band Larkin Poe, and genre-twisting Americana band The Wood Brothers. Dumpstaphunk is set to play the music of Sly & the Family Stone on the festival’s final night, too. Organizers have really leaned into their habit of giving each day its own musical personality. In 2026 those themes are cool jazz, rhythm, blues and brass, and roots and funk. Other headliners in the 47th Clearwater Jazz Holiday lineup are Big Sam’s Funky Nation, and the smooth jazz trio of Kim Waters, Jeff Kashiwa and Steve Oliver. Continuing to lean back into its roots as a free music festival, Clearwater Jazz Holiday will once again offer no-cover viewing opportunities from Coachman Park’s “Sunset Bluff.” Festival goers can also access two ticketed general admission areas where blankets and lawn chairs are welcome. Additional reserved seating and VIP areas will also be available. Organizers have also started to get into a groove programming two additional stages on the Coachman Park plaza and pier. Welcoming homegrown talent, those stages will host performances by Ronnie Dee & the Superstars, O Som Do Jazz, Carl Fischer’s Sunshine City Brass, Hammond wizard Shawn Brown, and many more. Tampa jazz band ARConnection, led by pianist Pablo Arencibia and drummer Dave Rudolph, will also play a “Fires Of Forever” Chick Corea tribute, honoring the late jazz great who called Clearwater home. Read more via cltampa.com/music
FRI 16
C ?nowledge (Album release) w/Rahim Samad/Zace/Logic ForBeatz/Sponatola/ DJ Wally Rios After nine years away, Tampa rap scene expat Elgin Cintron is back home fresh off releasing Higher Ground, his first new LP in 10 years. The album’s title is a nod to Hurricane Ida, which flooded the New Jersey home he shared with his wife and destroyed his studio. “The trauma of having to escape through chest high waters to get to safety along with the shell shock of losing everything I ever owned in the blink of an eye really put me in a musical funk for a few years following the flood,” Cintron told CL, adding that it took a while for him to
start creating again since he lost two brothers and his dad over the last five years, too. “The album really takes people on the rollercoaster ride of my life since the last project I put out while keeping the theme hopeful and redemptive.” The record is rife with collaborations, including some with Tampa emcee Rahim Samad, beatsmith Sponatola, and Cintron’s nephew Zace, who will all be at this release show. 5 p.m. No cover. Velvet Gypsy, Seminole Heights Lychee Camp w/Mirror Parts/Atomic Treehouse Sunday scaries are real, and that might be why Lychee Camp is playing this show on a Friday, to help welcome skaters in town for Tampa Am. The Tampa punk band premiered a new video for its song “Sunday Scaries” this week, taking to Davis Islands’ Seaplane Basin Park and the Bake ‘N Babes photo booth for a furry-tastic blast of classic sad boy emo. 9 p.m. No cover. The Bricks, Ybor City
SAT 17
C 15th Annual Tampa Pig Jig: Thomas Rhett w/Midland/Kameron Marlowe/ Sister Hazel/Cassidy Daniels Pig Jig started as a backyard barbecue to help a buddy fight his rare kidney disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). A decade-and-a-half later, the nonprofit has raised over $15 million for other nonprofits like Nephcure—which has worked tirelessly for a cure—and finds itself celebrating after the FDA approved a new drug, sparsentan (Filspari, stylized all-caps), as the first-ever approved treatment for FSGS.The festival, which has since expanded to other markets,
COURTESY
By Ray Roa
?nowledge
marks this milestone (and its own 15th anniversary) with the announcement of its 2026 lineup featuring country superstar Thomas Rhett alongside other genre favorites Midland and emergent “Giving You Up” songwriter Kameron Marlowe. Gainesville soft-rock staple Sister Hazel and North Carolina’s Cassidy Daniels round out the lineup. 1 p.m. $140 & up. Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, Tampa C Doc Martin w/Brian Busto/Dreez/ Slick Vizion It’s not right to call Doc Martin a producer. “I’m a DJ who makes records,” the man born Martin Mendoza told the Powertools Podcast over the summer. A godfather of the American EDM scene, Martin has been playing house music since its inception in the mid-’80s and has more than a few sets that are required listening (start with his 2001 “Essential Mix” on BBC’s Radio 1, or a 1991 set at the L.A. rave Gilligan’s Island), and this weekend he spins for three hours in St. Pete to help Brian Busto and DJ Three close out their Serious Soul x Hallucienda residency. It’s Martin’s first set for Serious Soul in a dozen years. “Doc is a mentor to Three and one of my biggest inspirations, we respect the hell out of him,” Busto told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “Honestly, we never imagined it would take this long to bring him back.” 9 p.m. $24.80. The Nest at St. Pete Brewing Co., St. Petersburg C Fangsgiving IX: Have Gun, Will Travel w/Same Day Delivery Orchestra/ Choking on the Revelry/Navin Ave./ Rebekah Pulley/This Is Goodbye/Adam Randall/Bangarang/Jeremy Gloff & the Gloffettes It’s a busy weekend of Halloween concerts at New World, starting with Friday’s WMNF Halloween Ball and wrapping with this, the ninth edition of what’s become one of the year’s best cover concerts. Perennial Fangsgiving band Have Gun, Will Travel takes on Thin Lizzy this year. Navin Ave. (which did The Killers last year) is back on the lineup along with rock outfit Bangarang, songwriter Adam Randall and others. Proceeds benefit Instruments 4 Life, a program that puts instruments, and music lessons, in the hands of kids in Hillsborough County’s afterschool programs. Donations of gently used instruments will be accepted. 5 p.m. $15 suggested donation. Music hall at New World Tampa, Tampa Nora’s Breakfast Club w/Aaron Marsh Lakeland means a lot to Florida emo kids, and bands like Nora’s Breakfast Club are part of that history. Formed by Christian school kids, the quartet recorded its debut, Soliloquy, at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, then watched its take on shoegaze propel to stages as big as the Lakeland Civic Center. It reunited in 2012 and is back again, two years after recording new music at Omnipop (stylized in all-caps), a music studio founded by Aaron Marsh. Marsh, the principal of another famed Swan City outfit (Copeland), plays support on this show celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Club’s debut. 8 p.m. $19.10. Union Hall, Lakeland
SUN 18
C Cardinal Bloom w/Jackson Alter Salt Lake City is easily one of the greatest music cities in America, and one of its finest exports lately is on the road supporting its 2024 debut full-length (The Only Place I’ve Ever Known) that’ll please fans of early-aughts indie that sounded like it was recorded in a garage (oftentimes, like with The Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes, it wasn’t, but Cardinal Bloom says it selfproduces its music). Yes, the band kind of blew up on TikTok (“She’s Just a Friend”), but it looks poised to stay around for a long time. Jacksonville songwriter and FSU alum Jackson Alter opens. 6:30 p.m. $23. Music hall at New World Tampa, Tampa
TUE 20
C Tampa Bay Pre-Fest 10: The Overjoyed w/Hyperdog/La Version Extendida de las Cosas/The Dreaded Laramie/Middle-Aged Queers/Time Thieves/Madison Bloodbath/Barbed Wires/Vallencourt/The Antidon’ts/ more Throughout the last decade, Chewy Hemphill’s fall festival has been a lifeline for folks who don’t have the scratch or enough time off to make it to Gainesville for Fest. Hell, his Pre-Fest even outlasted the prefest that Fest itself tried to do in Ybor City. For its 10th—and sadly, final—outing Tampa Bay Pre-Fest takes over Bradenton’s Oscura live where more than a dozen bands literally from across the world will join regional and local punk outfits looking for more gigs a few miles from North Florida. Highlights on the lineup include power-pop bands from Chicago and Nashville (Time Thieves, The Dreaded Laramie, respectively), New York post-hardcore quartet Common Sage, and St. Louis punk group Vallencourt. If you can’t make it across the Skyway Bridge, Deviant Libation in Ybor Heights is hosting Festers (Tiltwheel, Panthro U.K., United 13, Too Many Daves) on Tuesday, too. TuesdayWednesday, Oct. 20-21. 5 p.m. $20 & up. Oscura, Bradenton
WED 21
C Camping In Alaska w/Novely/Deep Bite/Pale Gold Last April, Vice asked if the phrase “I just want to kickflip into the sunset and disappear,” was an emo song title or a “text from your depressed friend at 2 a.m.” The answer is “probably both,” but the line definitely appeared on Camping In Alaska’s breakout 2013 album Please Be Nice (stylized all-lowercase). Two albums and 13 years later, the Alabama outfit is back in the Bay area to reconnect with fans who caught the group in Ybor City a year ago. 6 p.m. $24.06. Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa See an extended version of this listing via cltampa.com/music
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Fresh off its Newport Jazz Festival debut, easy listening duo Dana and Alden is setting sail for the Tampa Bay area next month. Built around tenor sax player Dana McWayne drummer Alden McWayne (pictured above L-R), the Brooklyn sibling band arrives supporting Papa’s Boat, a 51-minute collection of smooth jazz and indie-pop that dips into reggae and bossa nova, too. Recorded in London last year, the 15-track outing was inspired by the McWayne’s grandpa, who would adventure on a boat named “Swn y Môr” (Welsh for “Sound of the Sea,” according to Concord).
Jacuzzi Boys Sunday, Oct. 25. 7 p.m. $25. Zodiac Live, Ybor City Little Stranger w/ Mihali/Damn Skippy Day 1 Friday, Oct. 30. 8 p.m. $40.20. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg Little Stranger w/Bad Fish/JARV - Day 2 Saturday, Oct. 31. 8 p.m. $40.20. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg Mike Pinto Thursday, Nov. 5. 7 p.m. $22.22. Oscura, Bradenton Scoochie Boochie Thursday, Nov. 5. 7 p.m. $35.06. Orpheum, Tampa 99.5 QYK Guitar Pull Sunday, Nov. 8. 7:30 p.m. $98.50 & up. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg Victoria Monet Sunday, Nov. 8. 8 p.m. $52.60 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa The Early November Hawthorne Heights w/I Set My Friends On Fire/ Creeper Thursday, Nov. 12. 6 p.m. $41.50. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
“I think so much of what Alden and I are doing comes from just watching him live his own unique life,” Dana said in promotional materials. Alden agrees. “His emboldened, passionate personality gave us permission to be our own selves, to be unconventional and draw outside of the box.” Texas songwriter Alex Amen, who released a 2026, Laurel Canyon-sounding ass folk gem of an album, Sun of Amen, opens the show. Tickets to see Dana and Alden play the music hall at New World Tampa on Thursday, Nov. 5 are still available and start at $22. See Josh Bradley’s weekly roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa
Goth Homecoming: Lovesong (The Cure Tribute) w/First Wave Thursday, Nov. 12. 6:30 p.m. $20.65. New World Music Hall, Tampa Cannibal Kids (opening for The Hails) Saturday, Nov. 21. 7 p.m. $35.06. Orpheum, Tampa Eli Young Band Wednesday, Dec. 2. 7 p.m. $42.31. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg Samantha Fish w/ Cedric Burnside/ Daddy Long Legs Friday, Dec. 4. 6:30 p.m. $71.50 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater Silvestre Dangond Sunday, Dec. 6. 8 p.m. $87.64 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa Kenny G The Miracles Holiday and Hits Tour Saturday, Dec. 12. 6:30 p.m. $58.25 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater Trans-Siberian Orchestra Sunday, Dec. 20. 3 + 7 p.m. $59 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa Submit a gig at community.cltampa.com
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82 | OCTOBER 15-21, 2026 | cltampabay.com
Tall task
By Caroline DeBruhl
D
ear Oracle, I am on the precipice of a great change: I am about to become a mother in just a few short weeks. My pregnancy has been a wild journey, and I’ve found myself turning inward and reflecting. I know my life is changing completely. It’s been hard to do all the things I love (travel, events, making art) while growing this baby, but I’m excited to see how the future unfolds. While I know I’m in for a new “normal,” I wanted to know if the cards had any advice on what to embrace in my new life as a mother and what to let go of.—Moon Cards of what to know: The Tower (reversed), Two of Wands Cards of what to embrace: Four of Swords (reversed), Queen of Wands (reversed) Cards of what to let go of: Four of Pentacles (reversed), The Moon (reversed) Dear Moon, first off, congratulations! I realize this column might reach you after the birth, so if it does, I hope it was successful, and everyone is healthy and doing well. If you’re still waiting on the arrival of your child, I hope things are comfortable, and you feel as ready as you can be. The first thing to know about welcoming your first child into your life is that everything will be completely different. The Tower has come up before in this column in terms of pregnancy, and it really is an accurate description. It is the Big Shake Up; your life changes completely at
You mention creating art and traveling, so it doesn’t surprise me that you may be learning how to become the passionate mother, the Queen of Wands. This queen is a protective mother, a mama lightning speed, and you can get whiplash. A bear if there ever was, but also a warm mother, lot of people find the change destabilizing: the one who’s creative and nurturing. You mention lack of sleep, the anxiety, the trying to figure making art, and I think the Queen of Wands is out why the baby is crying. It’s hard! But coupled the perfect representation of the artist-mother. with that destabilization is also hope. Over the next few months, you’ll learn to weave The Two of Wands is a card of hope and abun- your artistic self with your mother self and become dance. Your hard labor (literally!) is beginning this whole individual. Since you’ll have a lot of to come to fruition. It’s watching the growth of quiet time on your hands, I’d suggest the book something joyfully. There’s more work ahead, The Baby on The Fire Escape by Julie Philips. It’s but it’s about enjoying the moment. So while a nonfiction book that looks at the lives of many you are dealing with the Herculean task of new artist-mothers and how they did both. (Note: many motherhood, you’ll also get to people will tell you that you see this wonderful new little cannot be both a great artperson exist. Their personist and a great mother. That’s alities emerge fairly quickly, bullshit. It requires a lot of and you get to meet your kid. finagling, but it can be done!) Send your questions to oracle@cltampa. It’s incredibly exciting! As you are becoming the com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram As you enter this new mother you’re meant to be, it’s phase of life, it is important to recognize that life important to remember that rigid expectations won’t bounce back to what it was before you got are not beneficial. There is a perfectionist streak pregnant. This doesn’t mean you’ll never enjoy to the Four of Pentacles, one that’s rooted in fear. those things you valued before, but it will look Paired with the subconscious of the Moon, I think different. At this moment, it is time for a serious that you might cause yourself lots of unnecessary rest. The Four of Swords is a card of going to stress if you tried to hold yourself to an impossible ground and letting your ego go. This season will standard. If you’re on social media at all, your algobe a quiet time for you—both literally because rithm has certainly been poisoned with a skewed you’ll have a sleeping baby and metaphorically. version of motherhood and a bunch of people telling You’ll be forced to slow way down, and as those you how you’re going to fuck up your kid. long hours draw out, you’ll learn how to move Even if you’re not, I’m sure you have into your new identity. thought about how your parenting would go.
ORACLE OF YBOR
But it’s important to tease out what you actually value and what you expect to happen. I remember so distinctly my husband holding our two-week-old daughter and saying, “I don’t want us to be a Ms. Rachel house. I want her to listen to 1920s jazz,” and me wholeheartedly agreeing. Eighteen months later, we all knew every single Ms. Rachel song. It was an expectation that we wouldn’t do any screen time because what I valued was that she only be exposed to things that would help her brain. And you know what? Watching Ms. Rachel helped with that. You will have to pivot multiple times in your parenting journey. You’ll have to figure out what’s actually serving you and your family and do it, even if it looks different from what you expect, even if it looks different from other people. Your life and family system is unique. It’s about finding what works for you all. I will also say that the Four of Pentacles is also a card for therapy, and The Moon can be a card for depression. One in seven women suffer from postpartum depression, so it’s important to check in with yourself and get support if/ when you need it. This is going to be a completely new world for you. It can be exciting and terrifying and joyful and exhausting and hilarious, all in equal measures. I hope this journey is enriching and as smooth as possible. Congratulations again, my dear. See more of Caroline and learn about her services at carolinedebruhl.com
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Quickies By Dan Savage
I
’m a bisexual man who’s new to Seattle. I was just invited to my first sex party by some new friends. The problem: I’m training to be a teacher and my therapist thinks this could be problematic for my career. I am now considering backing out to the party and stopping all related activities. My question: How far do you think this adjustment should go? Should I embrace priestly behavior or say “fuck it” and live my life? Teachers are held to a double standard. While teachers, like other people, are allowed to have sex lives, we expect teachers to keep all proof that they’ve ever had, might ever have, or might ever want to have sex off the internet. That’s an impossible standard for modern adults to meet, given that most relationships get their start online. Still, so long as you keep online presence is PG13—so long as new Seattle friends aren’t planning to livestream this sex party or post pics and videos after— you’ll be fine… probably? P.S. With apologies to Inigo Montoya: You used the expression “priestly behavior.” I do think it conveys what you think it conveys.
Your girlfriends don’t get a vote. Long-time listener! A few months back, over the course of several shows, you casually used the word “dint.” This is a very uncommon and rare word usage in the United States—and yet you’ve used it at least twice in less than a month. I learned the word in the Episcopal church choir many decades ago, but rarely any other time. Can you tell me how it became part of your vernacular this year? I don’t know when that particular four-letter first entered my vocabulary, but it wasn’t this year. This is from a column I wrote more 15 years ago: “A gay male football fan who says, ‘Sorry, lady, I’m gay,’ is going to be believed because no one is secretly straight—and some gay men are going to find him more attractive by dint of how straight he seems.” And I go on to use “dint” again in the very next sentence. (Em dashes are being cited everywhere as evidence that a writer is using AI. That column from 15 years ago has eleven em dashes in it, and I have emails going back 30 years from editors begging me to use fewer em dashes!)
SAVAGE LOVE
Should oral be included when adding up your body count? I say no (straight man), wife (straight woman) says yes. So, you walk into your living room and your wife is on her knees sucking your best friend’s dick. Is your wife cheating on you? If you can honestly answer that question with a “no,” then you don’t have to include oral-only encounters in your body count. The reelection of Donald Trump, the Pelicot trial, and now Cornell gang rape— how the fuck am I supposed to fuck men anymore? A threesome with two men is my ultimate fantasy and now it feels like I can never take the risk. If homosexuality was a choice, I’d choose it. What is a straight woman to do? While they’re not all Trumps, Pelicots, or Cornell frat boys, for your own safety you have to assume that any man you’re interacting with—sexually or otherwise—could be a Trump, Pelicot, etc., until you’re as certain as you can be that he’s not a Trump, etc. (“Not all men, but always a man.”) And if you do decide to have that threesome, do it with a friend of yours, not a friend of his, and do it sober. I’m a straight and I love pegging my boyfriend. I don’t think it makes him any less straight. My girlfriends disagree.
I’m a happily married woman with four children, married over 15 years. We have a very healthy sex life. My husband goes down on me every time before we have sex, which is great, but I want him to toss my salad. I want to experience this at least once but I don’t know how to broach the topic. He joked about it once and I said, “You could do that,” and he looked shocked and said, “It sounds like you actually want me to.” I obviously should’ve said, “Yes, I actually want you to,” but I was afraid he thought it was gross. How can I get my husband to want to do this? Even better, how can I make him think it was his idea? There are no magic words—there’s no spell that will make your husband bring up eating your ass again, there’s no potion that will make him think eating your ass was his idea—which means you’re gonna have to use your regular, nonmagical words and do the regular, non-magical thing of asking for what you want. That’s how the magic happens. P.S. A friend into piss told his boyfriend that he “stumbled over” some “freaky piss stuff” on social media and his boyfriend nodded and said, yeah, guys into piss are freaks. They only found out they were both into piss when they ran into each other at watersports party a decade after they broke up. My friend made a common mistake: he brought up his niche sexual interest but framed it negatively so that he could
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deny interest if his partner reacted with disgust. Which his partner did —but his partner wasn’t actually passed out, he was just mirroring my friend’s negatively. It’s possible the same might’ve happened when your husband brought up tossing your salad. So, don’t ask your husband if he was joking when he brought up tossing your salad—he might say he was even if he wasn’t—and instead tell him you weren’t joking when you said you wanted him to do it. You once told readers where to send their unwanted dildos. I got two new ones and have one old one that I want to get rid of. Where should I send them in 2026? We live in a target-rich environment where old dildos are concerned—so, the first billionaire, federal agency, or rightwing news site that came to mind is probably the right one. My husband quit smoking 10 years ago. He recently started again and tried to hide it from me. This has me wondering what else he might be hiding. He started doing different things in bed. Good things, things I enjoy, but different. Do I just enjoy the change or do I assume that he’s learned these new tricks from someone else and he’s keeping an affair from me too? If the possibility that your husband doesn’t bother you—if you’re toly—and if you’re enjoying the new tricks (who wouldn’t?) and can tolerate the smoking (I couldn’t), you don’t have to choose between enjoying the change and assuming the affair. Forgive me if you’ve already thought of this, but would the opposite of a DADT arrangement—“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”—be a DTDT arrangement? DTDT: “Do Tell! Do Tell!” Welcome to the lexicon DTDT! I’m attracted to a friend of my husband. Like, dripping wet attracted. Feral and chemical. Never going to act on it, have a great sex life with my husband, we are monogamous. Nothing is ever going to happen. I can keep this to myself, right? You should keep this to yourself unless your husband is a hardcore DTDT cuck. But you’re free to get wet around this guy, masturbate about this guy, and to think about this guy while you’re having sex with your husband. I’m a lesbian and my girlfriend of six months is married to a man. They had kids before my girlfriend realized she was gay. They made a “joint decision” three months ago to stay married and live under one roof until their kids are out of high school. (I put “joint” in quotes because I was not consulted.) They still share a bed, although they do not have sex, and their youngest
won’t be out of high school until 2035. I find this unacceptable. My girlfriend’s relationship with her ex is amicable while ours is increasingly characterized by conflict due to a “joint decision” I was excluded from. This is crazy, right? Here’s the crazy part: Your girlfriend and her husband aren’t legally bound by the decision they made to continue to cohabitate while they coparent, and they might change their minds long before 2035. So, if you could lovingly register your discomfort and then defer to your girlfriend and her husband about what they think is best for their kids—if you accepted their current living arrangements as the price of admission—you might be in the picture if and/or when they revisit this decision. But if you continue to be a source of conflict in the near term… if you keep fighting with your girlfriend about this… you’re gonna be long gone when they do finally decide to get a divorce and move into their own places. My girlfriend moved away and we want to maintain our intense sexual connection in her absence. We have occasionally dedicated ourselves to intimate appointments during video calls. What do you suggest to make them more dynamic and original? Mix in a little light power play: on your next call, one of you gets to turn off your camera off while the other performs on one video call; on the call after that, the other what to do on the next video call, etc. I’m a self-identified bi woman who has no romantic interest in women, but LOTS of sexual interest in women. Do I qualify as a bisexual person? Yes. I’m a straight woman who loves watching gay porn and I really want to watch two (or more) men fuck in person. There is a gay bathhouse in my city. Can I go? No. I’m a guy who likes to suck a cock. Can I still identify as straight? It’s rude to talk with your mouth full. What was something you dreaded trying but instantly loved? When I was 15? Men. When I was 25? Sushi. When I was 35? Snowboarding… and that’s as far as we’re going to go. Not because I stopped trying new things at 35, but because I can’t share those things without telling on my husband and my boyfriend, neither of whom enjoys being told on. Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love.
Tell Me About It: Fast talkers Editor’s note: Tell me about it is a new, stilldeveloping column where two locals take a stab at replying to some of Dan Savage’s readers, offering alternative advice and feedback. There are a few answers here tackled solo, and that’s noted in the responses. If you’ve got a different question altogether and want Claire and Carly to tackle it, send it to me (rroa@cltampa.com) with the subject line “Telling you about it,” and I will send it over. Please know that if you send a question, then we may very well run it, with your provided signoff name, in an upcoming issue of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.—Ray Roa Should oral be included when adding up your body count? I say no (straight man), wife (straight woman) says yes. Are we referring here to giving or receiving? Which are you more familiar with? (That last one is rhetorical). I’m a straight and I love pegging my boyfriend. I don’t think it makes him any less straight. My girlfriends disagree. Your girlfriends probably think your boyfriend is gay for other reasons. Like the way he talks.—Claire S. I’m a happily married woman with four children, married over 15 years. We have a very healthy sex life. My husband goes down on me every time before we have sex, which is great, but I want him to toss my salad. I want to experience this at least once but I don’t know how to broach the topic. He joked about it once and I said “you could do that” and he looked shocked and said “it sounds like you actually want me to.” I obviously should’ve said “yes, I actually want you to” but I was afraid he thought it was gross. How can I get my husband to want to do this? Even better, how can I make him think it was his idea? From what I hear, guys love butt stuff and this guy loves you! So naturally he’d love your desire for butt stuff. Plus you’ve birthed his children. He presumably watched you push another human out of you. What could possibly be off limits after that?
He’s probably watching porn and smoking cigs
I’m a lesbian and my girlfriend of a six months is married to a man. They had kids before my girlfriend realized she was gay. They made a ‘joint decision’ three months ago to stay married and live under one roof until their kids are out of high school. (I put ‘joint’ in quotes because I was not consulted.) They still share a bed, although they do not have sex, and their youngest won’t be out of high school until 2035. I find this unacceptable. My girlfriend’s relationship with her ex is amicable while ours is increasingly characterized by conflict due to a “joint decision” I was excluded from. This is crazy, right? No, you’re crazy! Plus, think of the children. My girlfriend moved away and we want to maintain our intense sexual connection in her absence. We have occasionally dedicated ourselves to intimate appointments during video calls. What do you suggest to make them more dynamic and original? Make it a three-way call with a Harry Potter stripper. I’m a self-identified bi woman who has no romantic interest in women, but LOTS of sexual interest in women. Do I qualify as a bisexual person? I have no romantic interest in Taco Bell but that doesn’t mean I don’t get horny when I smell it.—Claire I’m a guy who likes to suck a cock. Can I still identify as straight? What would be the point of identifying as straight?—Carly T. Yeah! Straight as a cockring.—Claire S. What was something you dreaded trying but instantly loved? We know this one wasn’t for us but I’m going to answer it anyway. Lowkey… Lexapro. And Bjork.—Claire S.
GARY A CORCORAN ARTS/SHUT TERSTOCK
My husband quit smoking 10 years ago. He recently started again and tried to hide it from me. This has me wondering what else he might be hiding. He started doing different things in bed. Good things, things I enjoy, but different. Do I just enjoy the change or do I assume that he’s learned these new tricks from someone else and he’s keeping an affair from me too?
on his work break. I don’t think new sex stuff and smoking are enough to assume an affair.
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