Articles by Jeffrey C. Billman

Crude awakening: The blame game is over

6/24/2010 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

The slow-motion tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon, the BP oil rig that exploded six weeks ago, killing 11 workers and pumping a seemingly endless supply of black gold into the Gulf of Mexico, has been ...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 11/25/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Nov. 3 (2009-521970) 10:28 a.m.: Hey, so Happy Turkey Day, y’all. Too much food, way too much family, what’s not to love? Well, anyway, if you plan on escaping for an after-dinner bender, or yo...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 11/11/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Oct. 26 (2009-508882) 12:30 p.m.: Over to you, Officer Thomas: “Victim notified 911 ref to observing an individual riding his bicycle which he reported stolen last week.” (2009-509430) 7:16...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 11/4/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Oct. 23 (2009-503761) 7:26 a.m.: Officer Williams has some issues with verb tense: “On the above listed date and time, unknown suspect(s) gain entry into the business by knocking a hole in the ...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 10/28/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Oct. 2 (2009-468202) 7:47 a.m.: The week’s first criminal mastermind broke into a U-Haul center and stole a “high-speed buffer” and pads. Be on the lookout for suspiciously shiny whips. (2009...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 10/14/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Sept. 28 (2009-461273) 11:50 a.m.: This week’s (first) copper wire theft is from a construction site on West Gore Street. (2009-461523) 2:51 p.m.: “Between the above dates and times, unknown...[MORE]

Breaking up with Jesus: Ex–Pedro the Lion frontman David Bazan embraces his doubt

10/7/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

David Bazan with Say Hi 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13 The Social, 407-246-1419 all ages $12-$14 ‘I hear that you don’t change/And how do you expect to keep up with the t...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 10/7/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Sept. 22 (2009-450746) 7:51 a.m.: Oh, what’s that? You want me to tell you all about my new hometown? Fine. I have a pimp corner office overlooking Old City. The weather is awesome, at least fo...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 9/30/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Sept. 9 (2009-429225) 9:01 a.m.: Orlando has some of the greatest crimes of all time. This dude, for example, managed to climb a 12-foot electrified fence in his glorious quest to snag 34 airbag...[MORE]

Down on Main Street: The short life and unceremonious death of a Parramore business and the city program that was supposed to help it succeed

9/17/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Karen Peters should have known it wouldn’t work. Even with the city’s generous incentives and the Dyer administration’s lofty talk about Parramore renovation, and even though her business would...[MORE]

My God can beat up your God: Think Islam is violent? Try cracking a Bible

9/17/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

You’ve heard the story: A young Ohio girl from a Muslim family converts to Christianity, then runs away to an Orlando evangelical couple she met over the Internet. She claims that her Muslim pa...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 9/17/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Aug. 31 (2009-414284) 7:33 a.m.: It’s an odd thing to see the whole of the last decade of your life crammed into a bunch of cardboard boxes you jacked from the back of the Publix across the str...[MORE]

Happytown

Happytown | 9/10/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes

By now you’re familiar with the meme of unexpected choreography in public spaces: a lunchtime crowd milling around a mall or museum or tourist trap seems to be going about its merry way until, ...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 9/10/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Aug. 26 (2009-405838) 7:15 a.m.: All right, so the verdict’s in: My better angels have prevailed, and the Mug Shot of the Week is relegated to the dustbin of this newspaper’s archives, along...[MORE]

Happytown

Happytown | 9/3/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes, Bob Whitby

The deification of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy began before his body was cold. So at this point there’s little we can add to the well-deserved accolades and hagiographies of the Lion of the Senat...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 9/3/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Aug. 21 (2009-397564) 7:06 a.m.: As you can see, the issue of the Mug Shot of the Week, which I droned on and on about last week, is still up in the air. Resolution is coming soon, so kee...[MORE]

It's all about the kids!: Florida Republicans try to bring youngsters into the fold

8/27/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

The numbers tell the story: According to the 2008 exit polls, Democrat Barack Obama claimed a decisive 66 percent of the under-30 vote. He won 95 percent of under-30 blacks and 76 percent of under...[MORE]

Police Beat

Police Beat | 8/27/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

Aug. 11 (2009-382027) 5:35 p.m.: For the first time in its four-year existence – really, has it been that long? – this column faces a moral dilemma. You see the Mug Shot of the Week, right s...[MORE]

Hosed, again: Firefighters face layoffs while other city employees get raises

8/20/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman

‘You made me a fool.” Steve Clelland is seething. The president of the Orlando Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 1365, is between meetings with city commissioners and recounting his inte...[MORE]

Happytown

Happytown | 8/20/2009 | By Jeffrey C. Billman, Billy Manes

And now it’s time for another edition of What’s Up With Alan?™, our attempt to keep you up to date on the comings and goings of Orlando’s favorite congressman, Alan Grayson! This week’s ins...[MORE]

Due Amici

Restaurant review: by Jeffrey C. Billman |

I’ve officially found the laziest kitchen downtown: the staff at Due Amici, the South Orange Avenue joint formerly known as Dan’s Midnite Pizza. Seriously, 30 minutes to heat up a couple of...[MORE]

Where You Are

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 2/27/2003

John Kurzweig isn't that horrible of a producer; it's that his two biggest successes, Creed and Puddle of Mudd, besmirch the good name of rock & roll. So you'd be forgiven for expecting disaster from ...[MORE]

Bleed American

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 8/2/2001

Someone at Capitol Records should be kicking themselves right now. Just two years ago, the label split with the Arizona-based indie-rock quartet Jimmy Eat World after the band's second LP, "Clarity," ...[MORE]

groypsounds

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 5/31/2001

Somewhere between hardcore and the mushy pop-punk of Blink 182 lies Rocket From the Crypt, a band reminiscent of mid-’90s West Coast skater acts like Rancid. Intense and driving, the smart-than-your-a...[MORE]

Untitled

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 5/24/2001

Here, in a nutshell, is Christian-music label ForeFront’s apparent marketing strategy: Scan Billboard for top-selling acts, find a group of 20-somethings to mimic them almost exactly, then ram the rec...[MORE]

Hell Below/Stars Above

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 4/26/2001

A lot has changed in the seven years since the Toadies released "Rubbernecker," the rape-and-religion-fixated platinum platter that spawned the hits "Away" and "Possum Kingdom." Since then, boy bands ...[MORE]

Spiritual Machines

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 3/29/2001

One could consider Our Lady Peace the modern-rock version of AC/DC -- every song sounds a lot like the one before it. Add a concept record to the Canadian band's equation, and you come up with "Spirit...[MORE]

The Madding Crowd

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 7/6/2000

If you like -- and I mean really like -- Nine Days' first single, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)," then you might enjoy the rest of "The Madding Crowd," the Long Island, N.Y., band's major-label debut....[MORE]

How To Meet Girls

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 6/20/2000

Green Day meets Weezer -- that's how a friend first described Nerf Herder to me in 1997. It turns out, he pretty much nailed it. Musically, the band with the name lifted from "Star Wars" sticks to the...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 2/27/2003

John Kurzweig isn't that horrible of a producer; it's that his two biggest successes, Creed and Puddle of Mudd, besmirch the good name of rock & roll. So you'd be forgiven for expecting disaster from ...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 8/2/2001

Someone at Capitol Records should be kicking themselves right now. Just two years ago, the label split with the Arizona-based indie-rock quartet Jimmy Eat World after the band's second LP, "Clarity," ...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 5/31/2001

Somewhere between hardcore and the mushy pop-punk of Blink 182 lies Rocket From the Crypt, a band reminiscent of mid-’90s West Coast skater acts like Rancid. Intense and driving, the smart-than-your-a...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 5/24/2001

Here, in a nutshell, is Christian-music label ForeFront’s apparent marketing strategy: Scan Billboard for top-selling acts, find a group of 20-somethings to mimic them almost exactly, then ram the rec...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 4/26/2001

A lot has changed in the seven years since the Toadies released "Rubbernecker," the rape-and-religion-fixated platinum platter that spawned the hits "Away" and "Possum Kingdom." Since then, boy bands ...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 3/29/2001

One could consider Our Lady Peace the modern-rock version of AC/DC -- every song sounds a lot like the one before it. Add a concept record to the Canadian band's equation, and you come up with "Spirit...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 7/6/2000

If you like -- and I mean really like -- Nine Days' first single, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)," then you might enjoy the rest of "The Madding Crowd," the Long Island, N.Y., band's major-label debut....[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 6/20/2000

Green Day meets Weezer -- that's how a friend first described Nerf Herder to me in 1997. It turns out, he pretty much nailed it. Musically, the band with the name lifted from "Star Wars" sticks to the...[MORE]

Sunday's Country Kitchen

Restaurant review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 8/26/2004

The first thing that strikes you about Uncle Henry's is that it's a happy place. You're greeted with a smile from a man in a bright, button-down shirt, and your chair is pulled out for you when you si...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 2/27/2003

John Kurzweig isn't that horrible of a producer; it's that his two biggest successes, Creed and Puddle of Mudd, besmirch the good name of rock & roll. So you'd be forgiven for expecting disaster from ...[MORE]

Recording review: by Jeffrey C. Billman | 8/2/2001

Someone at Capitol Records should be kicking themselves right now. Just two years ago, the label split with the Arizona-based indie-rock quartet Jimmy Eat World after the band's second LP, "Clarity," ...[MORE]