Football season is officially in full swing, which takes the Gainesville bar scene to a completely different level. For seven weekends every year, Gainesville is transformed from a typical college town into a 48-hour party including everybody from alumni to toddlers.
Minus one organ and plus one new baby, the husband-and-wife musical team Mates of State return to Gainesville for the first time since March 2006. Known for their organ and drum arrangement and catchy, complex pop harmonies, the indie-rock duo shed their signature organ sound on the new album, "Re-Arrange Us." Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel will be toting the new keyboards and their daughters, Magnolia and new addition June, on the road with them Sept. 13 and 14 to the Real Big Deal Festival at the Alachua County Fairgrounds. Calling from a houseboat in the middle of a lake, Hammel discusses the band's rearrangements, what it's like touring with two young daughters and why America is ready for change.
Why is it that guys no longer act like gentlemen, and girls no longer act like ladies?
Crocs, Inc. and 360 Productions are collaborating for the Crocs Next Step Campus Tour, which will be rolling into Gainesville on Sept. 14.
After the merger of their record company Capitol Records and the subsequent release of their new album "Singularity," the members of modern rock group Mae realized something: This isn't working. Despite experiencing severe debt, lack of management and a minor existential crisis, the band set out to find out a new way that did work. Drummer Jacob Marshall talked about the group's upcoming show in Gainesville, its trials with finding management and where it wants to go from here.
On Friday, my token spontaneous friend approached me with a proposition for a would-be adventure. The scheme was simple: a night spent waiting in line for ESPN's "College GameDay," the Holy Grail for many university men. It sounded boring, but he promised there would be TWIZZLERS. I said I would go.
"Bangkok Dangerous," a new thriller starring Nicolas Cage, manages to deliver some action along with a heavy dose of tired plot devices and distracting camera-work. Taking a cue from Michael Haneke, the Pang brothers decided to direct a remake of their own film in English. In the remake, Cage plays a hit man named Joe who only lives by four rules. The most important of these rules is to know when to get out. This theme plays at the heart of "Bangkok Dangerous."
Caution: Objects in your rearview mirror are older than they appear.
I first became interested in cooking in high school and came to UF (pursuing a degree in art) with ideas and recipes that have helped me cook healthily for myself while staying on a budget. Because I am on often cooking on the fly for one, I have to remain flexible; thus I developed an improvisational attitude towards cooking. As I see it, if you become familiar with a particular ingredient, technique, or basic recipe and learn how to play with it, it can become so much more than one involved, rigid recipe ever could.
Of the many reasons a restaurant may not be a crazy success, often ¾ dare I say most of the time? ¾ the quality of the food is the last. Some of those places are so devoted to the goodness of what they serve that they totally overlook everything else, including promoting themselves. They miss unbridled potential. That is the biggest problem with one of my favorite places in town, The Book Lover's Café.
"Why is it that a sophisticated animal like a chimpanzee does not utilize inferior creatures? He could straddle a goat and ride off into the sunset," asks "Encounters at the End of the World" director Werner Herzog, who also directed "Grizzly Man" and "Fitzcarraldo."
Two weeks ago, I was watching TV with some buddies when I discovered something disturbing â€" an uncommon occurrence on TV, for sure.
In this post-9/11 fantasy world, everyone is split into two sides: freedom fighters and terrorists, with no room for middle ground. Based largely on this premise, "Traitor" comes off as rather unbelievable, and at times almost ridiculous, as it channels Cold War-era nuclear fears brought about by propaganda.
At 2 a.m. on a main street in Athens, Ga., a parade is forming. This is not your average late-night parade, but a kazoo parade led by the singer of legendary indie-pop band The Music Tapes. Members of local band Oh Sanders followed a crowd of 300 fellow indie-music fans, passing spectators and fraternity houses while repeating the same six notes on the kazoo.
It was an ordinary day when Three Legged Dawg band member Billy Ray took a walk in his yard. His dog had taken a dump in the grass. To his amazement, a butterfly was perched on the excrement as if to symbolize the triumph of freedom and beauty over ¾ well, crap.
Some people may think college is just a holding tank of fun before entering the real world, but it's actually much more than that. It's a time to figure out what we want to do with our lives and see where we want to plant our feet. In order to figure that out, we all have to endure the dreaded interview process.
Don't lie. You know all summer long, the second an orange or blue article of clothing caught your eye, you were nearly required to buy it. Football season is back, ladies and gentlemen, and it's time to whip out your game day attire. Urban Meyer's whiteout didn't quite succeed â€" for more reasons than multiple see-through sundresses after the first quarter downpour â€" and at the Florida vs Hawaii game, orange and blue still reigned as the dominant colors in the Swamp. Sadly, I witnessed far too many fashion faux pas. So, to clear up some game day fashion confusion, here are some do's and don'ts.
When UF was ranked the No. 1 party school at the beginning of the semester, I was not remotely surprised. The bar scene and nightlife have always been a significant part of college life in Gainesville.
In terms of sheer size, the only thing larger than "…Earth to the Dandy Warhols…" is Courtney Taylor-Taylor's massive ego. It would be irresponsible to credit the growth of said persona to past experience this kind of megalomania you're born with but those once-coveted Seth Cohen playlist adds and the exposure in 1960s revivalist doc Dig! couldn't have helped matters. Having since mistaken Sundance for the Academy and obscurity for fame, Taylor and his Dandy band shed the limitations of their modest guitar rock orientation, and with this latest paralysis-inducing, hour-plus space jam, permanently shoot to hell any lingering pop flirtations in favor of misfired trance drones, none of which will be featured in a K-Swiss commercial. "Earth" is the kind of brazen kiss off you'd expect from a man with two last names.
For those strolling past the dimly lit bar windows of 1982 on a Monday night, be prepared to witness something other than locals watering down their worries. Instead, bystanders might find Gainesville's rock star wannabes imitating the greats on popular music video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
Solutions by The State News
