Tampa Is…?

It’s been a week (well, six days) since I got robbed and I’m fine. Thank you for all the well wishes; very much appreciated. While going through the process of dealing with the aftermath (replacing my driver’s license, picking up a police report, figuring out how to get my hands on cash for gas and whatnot without a bank card or ID, etc.) a friend pointed me towards a website that offers assistance: http://www.211atyourfingertips.org/

I don’t know why I never heard of it before now but it’s incredible and should be in everybody’s bookmarks. There are resources there for every conceivable crisis a person could encounter. Go there and add it to your list. If you don’t need it now, you’ll be glad you have it if/when you or someone you care about ever does. Unfortunately, it’s Florida specific so if you don’t live in the area, you’ll need to contact someone locally and see if your area has something comparable.

(Cross posted at Ridiculously Inconsistent Trickle Of Consciousness)

You’ll remember that SohoTampa and Sticks of Fire were named to Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay list for 2006. Sticks of Fire was chosen the Best Local Blog by readers of Creative Loafing, and SoHoTampa.com was the CL staff pick for Best Local Cultural Website. 

I went over to American Stageon Monday evening to accept awards on behalf of both websites.

It was a rainy night that scared a few away, but there were many spirited, community minded that showed up.  There was great food, interesting conversation, top class drink and more.  Without question, the entire affair was nothing if not fun.

And isn’t that at least part of what Creative Loafing is known for?  Well, that and covering stories like neither of the dailies do.  And that is why receiving this recognition is quite an honor.  They speak up - in depth - when everyone else seems to stay silent.

Thank You Creative Loafing for all you do!

Marketing Gorilla gives writers their due:

[Sticks of Fire has] … great contributors and they offer a unique citizen journalist viewpoint to life in the Tampa Bay area.

How about a big round of applause for all of the contributors here.  As the Gorilla notes, they really do a great job.

From Mike at Perpetual Beta release - » Link Whoring: Sticks of Fire

Sticks of Fire is not Tampa’s first weblog, nor its most prolific, but it may be the Bay Area’s most decorated. Showered with awards from local free culture papers like the Weekly Plant (or whatever it’s called now) Sticks of Fire is widely considered Tampa’s best blog about Tampa.

This may be the best review I’ve ever read that avoids any actual opinion. With absolutely no sarcasm here, I love it. Thanks for the attention, Mike!

Sticks is the current featured blog on the St. Pete Times blog portal. The description includes some very flattering words (which I captured forever):

Sticks of Fire: The gold standard among Tampa Bay blogs. Named by tbt* as one of a handful of must-read blogs for the bay area.

We really like being called “the gold standard.” Thanks for the props, guys!

Creative Loafing (nee Weekly Planet) announced the winners of their annual Best of the Bay for 2006.  I’m happy to announce that once again, Sticks of Fire has won an award.

You may recall last year Sticks was chosen by the CL (nee WP) staff for Best Local Website 2005, and that we earned a runner-up slot in reader voting for best blog (behind the now-defunct Midnight Culmination and the still-defunct bayciti).  We remain quite proud of that, displaying our alien at every opportunity.

This year Sticks of Fire made it to first place in the Loaf’s (nee Planet’s) readers poll for Best Blog 2006! (I had NOTHING to do with either of the 2005 blogs in front of me just… uh… disappearing).  You can be sure to see the CL/WP time traveler showing up now and again this year.

Runners up in reader voting include a couple of very worthy sites. Congratulations go to both Seminole Heights Blog and the Tampa Book Buzz.

Of course there are some other sites that the Creative staff (nee Weekly) offered as a notch above as well. We offer a laurel and hearty congratulations to the Best New Political Blog, The State of Sunshine.  Said the Loafers (nee Planeteers):

This former USF student body president and one-time candidate has an incisive eye for the guts of political campaigning, and he brings it in every post he writes. In one, Johnson broke down the current Florida legislature races. In another, he gave a behind-the-scenes account of how John Carassas won a House seat against a better-financed opponent in 2002. This is serious inside-baseball, political junkie stuff, but even though Johnson is a Republican, he doesn’t let ideology get in the way of ’splaining some politics. Read the Times’ Buzz blog to get the breaking political news; read The State of Sunshine to figure out what it means. stateofsunshine.blogspot.com. Unfortunately, Johnson is on hiatus from the blog while working a new job, but his anonymous replacement has been pretty good, too.

Last, and certainly not least, SoHo Tampa was named Best Local Cultural Website. Inside the blurb, editors at the “multimedia company” (nee alternative weekly) also give Sticks another compliment:

SoHo Tampa, the best chronicler of nightlife in the Bay area, focuses on the stretch of bars and restaurants along S. Howard Avenue. The city taking away 100 parking spaces? SoHo Tampa covered it. The latest pub crawl? The new restaurants opening? Ditto. Sure, the site is run by a marketing company and so the message is generally chamber-of-commerce upbeat, but owner Bill Sharpe is all over the SoHo scene, including updates on bartenders’ and restaurant managers’ job moves. Sharpe’s alliance with the Sticks of Fire blog will only make this website even better. http://www.sohotampa.com/.

Thanks to Creative Loafing (nee oh you know) for running the annual show and including a spot for websites (two years running now). And tons of thanks to you who voted for Sticks of Fire as Best Blog of the Bay this year.

Finding sticks online:

Sticks of Fire in Wikipedia on Wikipedia in blogs.

Tim Fasano: Sticks of Fire is the main blog in Tampa.

Bob O’Malley: Sticks of Fire is the best of many great Tampa blogs.

And speaking of Orlando, I have been asked to co-lead a session on “Community Blogging” with Joey Marchy of Urban Jacksonville over at the BlogOrlando unconference.

In a private email from Eric Sturms, chronicler of your weekly Tampa Options, and writer of the fantastic reference book Access: Tampa Bay: “Tommy ruins the best of the local blogs”

Damn right I do.

Warren Sapp is bringing his HipHopSodaShop to Tampa, over by USF.

The St. Pete Times Forum will be hosting a handful of college hockey and college basketball over the next couple years.

Jim Johnson at the State of Sunshine says “Sticks of Fire is probably the best Tampa Bay blog.”  I would put the emphasis on “probably.”

Wayne Garcia suggests the county commission really is addressing transportation problems in Hillsborough:

We have far too many people on the streets heading to visit a strip club or out searching for a good spot to burn a flag… Not to mention those hordes of people furtively seeking books by gay and lesbian authors at a local library.