Chris over at Pale Horse has managed to bring the rad once again with his Luchadoreligious mashups now available as prints and on skateboards. The first in the series, Our Lady of Lucha Libre is available now.

He has also been sharing progress shots on his blog, and next up in the series is Christos Mysterio Jr.

Remember, kids, there are cool things afoot, you just gotta dig a little to find them.

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Your Thursday night just got booked, and you’ll be spending it at the Studio@620 for Open Wall Night. This clever show allows “any and all local artists to display one or two pieces” and is a fundraiser for Ready for Life, a community organization that helps foster youth leaving state care. Kids get aged out of the foster care system all of the time and they are basically given a handshake and a half-assed “good luck, kid.” Ready for Life is aiming to empower these kids with the tools and resources necessary to manage the difficult transition. So, go get a drink, see some art, BUY SOME ART, and feel good about being socially conscious. Shout out to Justin for putting this together.

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This is the piece that Pale Horse’s Chris Parks did for the I <3 St. Pete show a few weeks back. Love it.

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It is time to celebrate another miracle in the ‘burg - an old building that has managed not to be knocked down. This go ’round we’re talking about the Detroit Hotel. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Detroit, that’s the one just above/behind that ghetto liquor store you usually hit up before going to a show at Jannus.

The Detroit was built in 1888, named after John Williams’ (the dude the park is named after, not the awesome composer) hometown of Des Moines - wait, no, that doesn’t sound right. Anywho, Peter Demens (who brought the first railroad here) named the city after his birthplace of Dzerzhinsk, Russia - wait… The romantic story that we tend to believe today, but probably isn’t true, is that John Williams and Peter Demens stood on the corner of Central and Second Street and flipped a coin for naming rights. Peter won, thus naming the city after his hometown, and runner up John named the hotel after his.

While the building still exists, it is no longer a hotel, instead housing what I can only assume are the world’s most annoying condos (how does one sleep when Insane Clown Posse is playing at Jannus?) What is really pretty awesome, though, is that the majority of the architectural stylings of the original hotel remain thanks to a 2002 renovation that saved the building from the wrecking ball. Let’s take a look at a few pictures, shall we?

Above is the oldest picture I know of the hotel, boy was St. Pete bustling back in those days. Take note of the tower and the dormer windows, references to that original architecture still exist today.

The above photo isn’t dated, but was probably taken sometime after the first round of renovations in 1914. Of particular interest to me is the minaret added to enhance the entrance, which is reminiscent of Henry Plant’s Tampa Hotel (now UT), built in 1891 in the then popular Moorish style. (If you’re interested, there’s a pretty awesome history of that hotel here.)

Someone call the cops, the tower has been stolen! However, in this undated photo we see the brick buildings added on either side that are still recognizable today, as are the balconies.

My guess on the above photo is somewhere in the 30’s/40’s. The Vinoy was completed in 1925, and the Detroit probably went with the pink paint job in the hopes it would add some class to the joint. Thank goodness it didn’t last. The minaret has been axed, the dormers and chimneys knocked down and the sign that is still there today (see below) has been added.

Marty McFly it about 60 years forward and we’ve got the best current photo I could find, which is pretty shitty. You can, however, see the referential architecture which returned in 2002 with the tower and dormers.

Here’s a bonus combo of an old newspaper ad for the Detroit Restaurant and a current image of the sign that still pokes out of the side of the building (although in a slightly different configuration than the original.)

Whew, that’s a lot to digest. If you’re interested in which hotel has existed longest in St. Pete and is still running, that would be the Pier Hotel on 2nd Ave N, built in 1921 and still operating daily as a hotel.

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On account of the fact that I had the interweb time machine fired up yesterday for the McRory’s post I thought it might be good to talk about the Comfort Station, also known as the most awesome public restroom in St. Petersburg.

The Romanesque dookie house was built in 1927 and shares a particularly similar design to St. Mary’s Church, which you can see on the right courtesy of Flickr user HexBlock (who also provided the image above). Both buildings were designed by Henry Taylor, who also designed the Vinoy and Admiral Farragut Academy.

Rumor has it that Taylor did not feel that he was paid appropriately for his work on St. Mary’s and in retaliation designed the public restroom to be a miniature version of the church. His wife later said that wasn’t the case, but you’ve got to admit they look pretty damn similar. I like to think Taylor was making a statement, his very own 1920’s version of a Piss Christ.

Even though it seems you could easily disprove the rumor by looking at the dates, the rumor persists. We know for sure that the Comfort Station was built in 1927 while St. Mary’s was built in 1929. This would seem to indicate that the Little St. Mary’s rumor isn’t true. However, according to the history of St. Mary’s, Taylor started work for the church in 1924 with a rectory a few blocks away. It is possible that the design was completed years before the church was built, which is enough for me to enjoy the thought of some dude making a tiny poop version of the great church.

Fun Fact: the church was built for a measly $129,000. I’ll take two, please!

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I was strolling along on Flickr and came across a cool old postcard looking east along Central between 4th and 5th Street. Downtown was just a completely different beast back in the days, check out all the activity, people and stores - hell, there’s even a hotel down there. I’ve always loved the McCrory’s sign from the building’s heyday as a thriving five and dime, so I figured dusting off the old interweb time machine might be fun.

For bearings you’re looking at the Snell building (aka the Rutland building) peeking over the top of the vertical McCrory’s sign there, which is easier to make out in the full size image. That sign is of course still there and what’s even awesomer is that the neon of the Hotel Alden sign remains as well (although the black paint behind it has since vanished). Below is another view looking the other direction where you can see more of the Snell building on the right.

Another thing you can see in this photo is the Kress building next door, which you may recognize since the ghost of the Kress logo still appears on the backside of the building. The Kress building itself was actually listed on the National Registrar of Historic Places in 2001, which I wish had happened to more of Central.

And last but not least, one more awesome postcard of the same block, this time with the Rutland Department Store sign which sheds some light on where the building got its name. These days it is more often referred to as the Snell building on account of developer C. Perry Snell (yep, Snell Isle) who built it in 1926. Fun fact: not only is the building itself on the National Registrar of Historic Places, the cupola is a National Geodetic Survey benchmark. For you non-geocaching nerds that would be “a point whose position is known to a high degree of accuracy and is normally marked in some way… used by land surveyors, builders and engineers, map makers, and other professionals” and more recently by nerds with GPS.

I think my favorite part of this last one is the Fountain Lunch sign. Can you imagine rolling to Walgreens or CVS to get lunch? Man, it was so much cooler back then.

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I totally forgot I had this. A company who has since got out of business used a very similar image to promote a very bad idea that very much lost them a very much amount of money and stuff. The good news, though, is that now you can own a very awesome poster for a very reasonable amount of money. Yes, it is Cafepress, but trust me when I say that the quality is le awesome and you’ll get years of enjoyment out of this bad boy. So seriously, buy yourself one.

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Well, more precisely: what 100,000 people look like from the rooftop Mariott pool while you are drinking free alcohol amongst the beautiful people at the Red Bull VIP party. Yeah, that’s right, that’s how we roll.

This post isn’t actually about how awesome my life is, though. No, this post is a congratulations to the bay area. I was shocked to hear that Red Bull was planning a Flugtag event here and I was so very scared that we’d fuck it up like we fuck up so many things. But you know what? People showed up! That’s right, the bay area represented and Tampa actually looked like a real city with tons of people flooding the water, walkways and rooftops of downtown. This is a proud day my friends. Top it off with a local team (Tampa Baywatch) taking the victory and I say that’s a day full of WIN.

The Times is currently reporting 35,000 people there, but 100,000 sounds more impressive and from where I was standing with my arms around gorgeous Red Bull girls I’ll tell you this much: it was a fuckload of people.

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That’s right kiddies, time to clear out the Splog warehouse and make room for more dead hookers. For a limited time you can pick up a Splog shirt for only $10. Tell your friends! These are American Apparel beauties (the gray one is a tri-blend, soooooo soft) with custom tags, badass artwork and enough ‘burg cred to get you into the most exclusive St. Pete hotspots (think Wilson’s Lounge). Act now, Merchline operators are standing by!

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Oh Florida, how I love thee. Where else can my trip to work be suddenly and delightfully interrupted by an amazing, life changing invention like Water Wheels? I mean, fuck me, it’s like a super soaker for your bike!

Invented by a local man, this is CLEARLY the HOTTEST new toy for a COOL WET summer of fun. Be sure to check out the media coverage in which inventor Tim Englert reveals that he underwent 10-12 years of R&D and practically guarantees you’ll be able to get your Water Wheels this coming Christmas 2004.

The most important thing you NEED to do is watch the awesome cartoon that will hypnotize you into wanting, nay needing a Water Wheels this very instant.

Right. So remind me why I would see a truck this morning with this shit plastered all over it if Christmas 2004 already passed and clearly no one wanted the damn thing? Oh, right, because here in Florida we IGNORE TIME. I promised you something 4 years ago? Fuck it, who cares?! Dirty hipster shit was big in major cities 4 years ago? Fuck it, roll in some dirt and call yourself cool.

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No, really, I saw it once in a picture. I really friggin’ hate the RPOF, these dudes have no class, no morals and are apparently completely OK with seeming like a desperate bunch of a democracy haters. Congrats, fellas! I bet they’re still bummed about the civil war, too.

Looks like these fuckwads are sending around a Photoshopped image of Fidel Castro holding an Obama poster with ZANY text on it. The text was obviously added later, but most people won’t catch the fact that Fidel Castro has never had his hands on an Obama poster and a bunch of stupid assholes are probably going to take this as a legitimate image.

Well guess what, RPOF? We have Photoshop too!

Please ignore the following, for Google’s sake I need to mention a few things to make sure these dillholes see this post: RPOF, Republican, Florida, Party, Bush, Governor, Governor Crist, Charlie Crist, Jim Greer, Jeff Kottkamp, Marco Rubio, Speaker Rubio, Ken Pruitt, Florida House, Florida Senate, politics, political, vote, voting, voter registration, GOP, Republican Party, Republican National Committee, George W. Bush, President Bush, White House, Dick Cheney, Bush, Cheney, Senate, House, Congress, Conservative, Political activism, 2004 Election, Taxes, Tax Relief, Bush Tax Cuts, Economy, Education, No Child Left Behind, Defense, Judicial Nominees, Protecting Social Security, Prescription, Drugs, Rx Drugs, 2nd Amendment, Homeland Security, platform, RSEC, Republican State Executive Committee

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Man I love YouTubes. Video is old, and looks to be a camera filming a TV, but it says it was filmed in St. Pete… weird weird weird.

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Man, check out the badass time that the Florida Library Association had at FLA2008 held at the Tradewinds, St. Pete Beach. I’m so pissed that I didn’t get tickets to this thing, I’ve been begging them to let me attend the last 3 years but I guess there’s a crazy waiting list. Just look at the shenanigans below… damn that looks awesome!

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I had the incredible honor of spending an evening in the cultural mecca that is Dunedin last night, and boy are my eyes open. Here I thought St. Pete was the place to be, but St. Pete is to Dunedin as Buttfuck, Indiana is to NY. The culture, entertainment and variety of trendy bars is staggering! Staggering I say!

Here’s what you should do immediately: stop reading this shit and go to Dunedin. Start off with some Mahi Tacos at Jolli Mon’s, that shit will get your stomach ready for getting your fade on. Sit on the patio, that way you can watch the fat rollerbladers on the Pinellas Trail. Next check out the Dunedin Brewery, you should be good to go unless it is Earth Day and there’s a drum circle composed of creepy dudes inexplicably carrying hula hoops. If it is Earth Day, don’t go in. Seriously. Otherwise, get a Redhead Red or two.

Next, you have options but you should ignore those options because they just get in the way of the magical time you will spend at the Chic-a-boom Room. Remember, though, this isn’t amateur ‘burg hour, don’t be rollin’ up in there unless you’re dressed right or they’ll kick you right the fuck out. Also, keep your eyes peeled for some hott cross dressin’ dudes making their way to the backdoor of Blur. Don’t be tempted to follow them, though, you’ll get there soon enough once you’ve got a good buzz going. You may want to keep a skirt handy, too, dudes in skirts drink free on Wednesdays, Tuesdays are alternative lifestyle and Fridays celebrate the art of female impersonation. Dope.

When you pass out in the bathroom, no problem, Kelly’s is right next door to fix you up a hangover stomping breakfast. Just be careful not to show up there with a group of dudes, they’ll totally misunderstand and it’ll make for some awkward air kisses.

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Our favorite provider of hangovers (hi Colleen!) sent us a link to St. Pete Recycling Solutions, which makes us about 3 months late to the party, but dammit, I’m still posting it. We’ve spent plenty of time badmouthing the city’s recycling “program” (if you can call it that), and it looks like someone else decided to do what us bloggers never do - actually act on something. Greg Foster had the bright idea of turning the city’s embarrassment into a business venture, building a curbside recycling program where Mayor Greenie Baker said one couldn’t be built.

For the completely reasonable amount of $15/month, SPRS will provide you with recycling bins and actually pick that shit up from your curb on a weekly basis. This sounds so damn familiar to me, although I can’t seem to place where I might have… oh wait, this is what most real cities do when they claim they have recycling programs!

It will be interesting to see if SPRS will be able to entice enough lazy ‘burgers to pay money to have their recyclables removed. My gut says that the time-honored American tradition of lazy-assedness will just about guarantee their success. Bravo to you SPRS and Greg Foster, now let’s see what other companies we can create to fill in all the other gaps in our city government.

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