Agenda Florida Issue 265 by Multi-Media Platforms

FT LAUDERDALE • JACKSONVILLE • KEY WEST • MIAMI • ORLANDO • TAMPA / ST PETERSBURG

FLORIDAAGENDA.COM

•

DECEMBER

FT LAUDERDALE • JACKSONVILLE • KEY WEST

17,

2014

•

ISSUE

265

MIAMI • ORLANDO • TAMPA / ST PETERSBURG

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FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL ASKS U.S. SUPREME COURT TO EXTEND STAY OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE Page 10

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December 17, 2014

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HOLLYWOOD, CA—Columbia Pictures executive Michael De Luca called David O. Russell, the director of Sony Pictures 2013 film American Hustle, “a loon” in leaked email exchanges between De Luca and Sony Co-Chair Amy Pascal. The emails were part of a cyber-attack on Sony credited to hackers from North Korea. The dictatorship is sensitive to the recently released Sony comedy The Interview which depicts the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, in an unflattering light. De Luca claimed, “David’s a loon, talented, but geez once I saw him bring Sally Field to a party and reduce her to tears. Plus remember when he got in trouble for feeling up his transgender nieces (sic) boobs?” There were rumors in 2011 that Russell grabbed the breasts of a niece during a workout session at a gym. The transgender niece is not a blood relative.\ The director earned three consecutive Oscar nominations for Best Director for The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle, but won none.

SPINDALE, N.C. – Five members of the Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina were indicted for allegedly kidnapping and beating a man because he’s gay. The group

Leaked Sony Email: American Hustle Director Labeled “a loon” for Grabbing Breasts of Transgender Niece

December 17, 2014

Pastor’s Wife, Daughter and Son Among Those Indicted by Grand Jury for Kidnapping and Beating Gay Man

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NEW YORK, NY—The Catholic League, long a critic of the LGBT community has now advised its followers to boycott Tom Ford for his design of a phallic inspired cross pendant. The fashion designer launched the designer pendants this week – which are available in gold and silver. There are three different options: small penis, medium penis pendant, and large penis pendant. Apparently size doesn’t matter to Ford since they are equally priced at $790. The product introduction via the Tom Ford website tomford.com has enraged Bill Donohue of the Catholic League who launched an attack on the designer’s sexuality. The anti-gay group’s leader said: “When we learned of this item, I said to the staff that I bet this guy Tom Ford is a homosexual. I was right. He even thinks he’s married.” Ford, 53, revealed earlier this year that he had married his 66-year-old partner Richard Buckley, an internationally famous interior designer. The pair have a son, Alexander. Despite backlash online, he has continued to promote the product, tweeting: “The Penis Pendant. Comes in small, medium, and large. Men’s jewelry.” One on-line reader of Pink News responded to Donohue: “For his information, the cross was invented by the Romans and crucifixion was a tradi-

tional method of torture and execution when it occupied what is now Israel/ Palestine, long before Jesus Christ ever ‘existed’. I’m astounded that anyone could subscribe to a belief system founded on violence and death. Primitive if anything.” One Twitter user told him to “rot in hell”, while another said: “How dare you use a phallic symbol in the Christian cross! You insulting piece of trash! HOW DARE YOU!” The Catholic League last boycotted the Guinness dry stout company months after the firm pulled sponsorship from New York’s St Patrick’s Day parade over a ban on gay groups. Mr Donohue claimed: “We should remember that this corporate bully tried to shove its secular agenda down our throats by punishing the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade for not allowing gays to march under their own banners in 2014; it pulled its sponsorship.” Guiness is part of the alcoholic beverage giane Diageo PLC company, which also controls the license for the Guiness Book of Records.

has been in involved in similar cases previously. In 2011, a young man said he was held against his will by the church for months because he was gay. He later recanted. In 2003, the church was involved in a custody dispute between a former church member and Brooke Covington. Reports show the mother gave Covington temporary custody of her two daughters, but in October of 2003 those children were ordered removed from the home after a district court found the environment abusive. Two daughters went back to the church after an appeals court tossed out the ruling.

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Catholic League Attacks “Homosexual” Tom Ford for His Design of a Penis Pendant

JOE SEER

Tom Ford

of five included Brooke Covington, the wife of one of the church’s pastors, Kent Covington, as well as the couple’s daughter Sarah Covington Anderson and their son Justin Covington. According to CBS network affiliate WSPA-TV, five members of the controversial Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale were indicted earlier this week in connection to the alleged crime. In addition to the Covington’s, church members Adam Bartley and Robert Louis Walker were charged with simple assault and kidnapping of former church member Matthew Fenner. Sarah Anderson faces the additional charge of assault by strangulation. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office released the information last Tuesday afternoon about the incident that occurred in 2013. Fenner said the church was trying to cure him for being gay and wanted to break him free of the “homosexual demons.” “I honestly thought I was going to die,” Fenner said. “My head was, like, being flung back, my vision was going brown and black… I couldn’t breathe and I’m sitting here thinking, ‘If I don’t get out of this, I’m probably going to die.’” Word of Faith Fellowship lawyer Josh Farmer commented via email that the accused members of Word of Faith “are innocent of the charges leveled against them and we look forward to proving their innocence and to their complete vindication before a trial court. We are adamant that no one ever physically harmed Mr. Fenner... The church does NOT target members who are gay.” “This is the only way that I can get my voice out there to say look, this kind of stuff is happening. It happened to me and it just kind of sheds some light onto the things that are going on in there and that people do know, but can’t really have the facts to go with it,” said Fenner. Fenner’s mother and brother, who are still members of the church, testified against him. According to WSPA-TV, the church

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SUNSHINE STATE Florida Attorney General Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Extend Stay of Same-Sex Marriage TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — Just weeks after a federal court denied Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request to extend a stay on same-sex marriages in the state, she has tossed what is her final tool in an on-going effort to prevent gay unions from becoming legal in Florida that were set to begin on January 6. In a request submitted late Monday, Bondi asked that the U.S. Supreme Court to intercede and prevent marriages from taking place in the Sunshine State. Bondi’s spokeswoman

December 17, 2014

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Jennifer Meale officially stated that Bondi’s move is an attempt to “reduce confusion.” “The recent decision denying a longer stay has created statewide confusion about the effect of the injunction, which is directed to only one of Florida’s sixty-seven clerks of court,” she wrote in a press release. “In a continuation of the effort to maintain uniformity and order throughout Florida until final resolution of the numerous challenges to the voter-approved constitutional amendment on marriage, the Attorney General’s Office filed with the United States Supreme Court an application to extend the stay.” In the 70-page filing, Bondi’s lawyers wrote that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ denial of an extension Dec.

3 “has created statewide confusion” and that lifting the stay could lead to county clerks throughout the state issuing marriage licenses to gay couples although only one Florida county --- Washington --- was a party to the federal lawsuit. “The constitutional issue is a serious one, and it deserves appellate review before the injunctions (against the gaymarriage ban) should become effective,” Florida Solicitor General Allen Winsor wrote. Unfortunately for Bondi, her last gasp is unlikely to succeed. Not only is she on the wrong side of history in her continuing legal footwork, previous efforts to do exactly the same thing in the conservative states of Kansas, Idaho, Alaska and South Carolina have failed. James Esseks, director of the LGBT Project for the ACLU in New York and one of the attorneys in the Florida case, said that samesex couples are marrying in all four of those states. it’s possible Justice Thomas would accept Bondi’s stay request, but more likely that he would refer it to the full court. Esseks noted that since last October, when the Supreme Court denied hearing appeals to court rulings allowing same-sex marriages in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana, justices have denied similar state requests for stays four times. “It denied stays by Idaho, Kansas, Alaska and South Carolina,” Esseks said. “Same-sex couples are marrying in all four of those states.” Responding to last Monday’s filing, ACLU of Florida LGBT rights attorney Daniel Tilley stated: “It is unsurprising, given how hard Governor Scott, his appointees, and Attorney General Bondi have fought to keep loving and committed couples from getting married and having their marriages recognized in Florida, that they would keep up this dead-end fight. But with just weeks until the ruling is scheduled to go into effect, it is disappointing. “Florida families have waited long enough for the end of a ban that a

federal court has declared unconstitutional. Since October, the Supreme Court has refused all requests to stay rulings striking down the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage in other states. We are hopeful they will do the same here so that loving couples and their children can get the protections for which they have waited so long.”

Same-Sex Couples Celebrate at Equality Florida’s Inaugural Black and White Ball FORT MYERS, Fla. – Gay rights activist group Equality Florida held its inaugural Black and White Ball in Lee County fundraising event at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in the Fort Myers River District last Saturday. While celebrating the anticipated lifting of same-sex marriage laws in the state effective January 6, the LGBT community made the newly enacted domestic partnership registry in Cape Coral and Punta “It’s great to be home and having this event right here,” Abbe Forman said. Forman married her spouse Shelly in New York, and looks forward to the moment the marriage is legal in Florida. Cape Coral Mayor Marni Sawicki and several council members were honored for their work in creating the city’s domestic partnership registry. “I represent everybody in Cape Coral. I don’t represent any particular group. For me, this is just about equality, and doing the right thing, and giving everybody the rights that they deserve,” Mayor Sawicki said. Arlene Goldberg was also honored for her equality efforts along with her late wife Carol. “When she died, on her death certificate it said she was single and never married, And that wasn’t true. She was married to me. So I decided I had to do something,” Goldberg said. And while their marriage wasn’t recognized before Carol passed away, Goldberg is working toward that goal

“Day It Snowed in Miami” Wins Local Emmy

December 17, 2014 17

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Day It Snowed In Miami, a documentary about LGBT rights set in 1977 during the Anita Bryat era in Miami-Dade county, has won the 2014 Suncoast Emmy Award as the “Best Historical Documentary.” Directed by Joe Cardona in association with the Miami Herald Media Company (MHMC), the film was produced by Shed Boren of Genesis Fund, Cardona, el Nuevo Herald videographer Jose Iglesias, Miami Herald LGBT issues reporter Steve Rothaus and Miami Herald interactive editor Nancy San Martin. The film won an 2014 Aurora Award earlier this year for its “great technical execution, good variety of material sources, clear, in-depth interviews.” The Day It Snowed In Miami, which broadcast nationally on PBS and screened at the Classic Gateway Theater in Fort Lauderdale and the Colony Theater in Miami Beach, covers the political battle that took place in Miami

in 1977 when singer and orange juice pitchwoman Anita Bryant opposed a then-controversial human rights law sponsored by LGBT activists. According to Cardona, the film’s title serves as a metaphor: The ordinance that sparked the outrage was debated by Dade County commissioners on an uncharacteristically frigid night, and some opponents at the time remarked that the ordinance would pass “when hell freezes over.” The morning after the ordinance was approved, Jan. 19, 1977, Miamians woke up to snowflakes for the first and so far only time. Miami Herald Executive Editor Aminda Marqués Gonzalez said Saturday’s recognition for The Day It Snowed In Miami was an especially unique honor for the production team. “We’re honored to have been part of a project that documents one of the most important chapters in our community’s history, especially at a time when LGBT rights are once again at the center of a national conversation,” Marqués said. “Our job as journalists is to bring important stories to as broad an audience as possible, and film is an additional tool for getting the information out.” The 86-minute film, narrated by Margot Winick, was written by Cardona and San Martin, with music by Rothaus. The Emmy is the second for the MHMC/Cardona team. The first was for a documentary titled Nou Bouke following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The Suncoast Emmy Awards is an officially sanctioned ceremony of the

ST. PETERSBURG — There’s a new spot in St. Petersburg to celebrate being gay. Not a club, not a bar, not a restaurant, the LGBT Welcome Center in the Grand Central District is a safe haven for relaxation, camaraderie, and education. Located next to the Metro Wellness and Community Center Thrift Shop at 2227 Central Avenue, the LGBT Welcome Center is hosting grand opening events this weekend to celebrate more than a year of fundraising and the extensive renovations on the 1920s-era residence turned hospitality hall. Last year the 1,400-square-foot home was saved from demolition and hauled several blocks to a parcel owned by Metro. Using bright colors and minimalistic design, the center is reaching out to the entire LGBT community, but particularly to teens looking for a drug and alcohol-free alternative to the gay club scene in St. Petersburg. According to the St. Petersburg Tribune, the city recently earned a perfect score on LGBT social issues from the Human Rights Campaign for granting same-sex partner benefits and prohibiting gender identity discrimination. “Since I moved here, I’ve never felt unwelcomed anywhere. That’s a great thing to be proud of in your city,” Chris Rudisill, community center services director for Metro, told the Tribune. The group since has collected contributions ranging from $1 to $8,000 from local residents, small businesses, corporate sponsors and civic groups, making the home wheelchair accessible and revamping its interior and exterior, Rudisill said.

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for other couples. “I really feel that this is something that I have to do; that Carol is pushing me on,” Goldberg said. The Florida Family Policy Council, the anti-gay marriage group, insists that courts are overturning the will of the majority of Floridians who passed an anti-gay marriage amendment to the state’s constitution in 2008.

SCREENCAPTURE

Scene from The Day It Snowed in Miami

LGBT Welcome Center Opens in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District

Metro already offers premier HIV services, social networking, and other health and wellness programs that enhance the quality of life for the local community., but the welcome center will provide a more relaxed, comfortable atmosphere for events and gatherings. “It’s a safe, alcohol-free zone where they can hang out and do fun stuff on Friday nights; where they can be themselves,” said Rudisill. Collaborating with tourism agencies such as Visit Florida and Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, the center also will continue to bolster the Tampa Bay area’s reputation as a gay-friendly vacation destination. “We had been talking for years about bringing in a visitor center to enhance the travel that was already happening here. Many LGBT travelers are attracted to the arts and that’s obviously a big thing in St. Pete,” said Brian Longstreth, a local real estate agent who helped found the annual St. Pete Pride Festival. The center also will offer LGBT cultural sensitivity training to local merchants and business owners. Staff members at the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce already have participated in the program and shops that go through the training can display a label signifying they welcome the LGBT community, chamber President Chris Steinocher told the Tribune. What’s striking about having the welcome center here —it’s the third of its kind in the United States with similar concepts in Miami and Seattle — is that it shows how far the local community has come over the years, says Pinellas County Commissioner John Morroni, who attended a grand opening ceremony for the center last Friday. While a 2013 vote by the commission to include transgendered people to the groups protected by the county’s human rights ordinance still drew some criticism, Morroni says the opposition was far less than it had been years ago. “There’s been a complete turnaround in acceptance of LGBT people, not only in St. Pete but in Pinellas County,” said Morroni, a Republican who represents District 6.

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National Association of Television Arts and Sciences, which produces the national Emmy Awards telecast. The Aurora Awards recognize excellence in film and video in international competitions.

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AS I SEE IT December 17, 2014 • ISSUE 265

BY RICHARD HACK

FOUNDER MULTIMEDIA PLATFORMS

THE CRAZIES CAME OUT IN FAYETTEVILLE

o they were celebrating a lot this past week in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Fayetteville, population 79,000, is home to the University of Arkansas of Razorbacks fame. But it wasn’t football that caused the recent hoopla. This time it was bathrooms. Voters in Fayetteville came out in droves to defeat a suggested new city ordinance that would have allowed locals and those visiting the university to have the right to use either gender’s bathrooms, showers, locker rooms or any other public facility where genitals and other private parts might be exposed. The suggested ordinance came to life in the form of 5,000 petitions from the more liberal folk in this ultra-liberal college town. It was based on a similar suggestion floated and passed in a different form in Houston, Texas, last May. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) was said to have spent $200,000 to protect the anti-religious freedom ordinance. Nevertheless, the measure got rejected by 52% of the Fayetteville locals. Leading the opposition was the radical FRC Action group whose mandate is presumably to reinforce “good old American values.” The same traditional values that they say were created by this country’s founding fathers. Well, together with the Church Ministries team, they called out the voters to defeat what they labeled as a “non-discrimination” ploy. According to FRC Action, the ordinance’s real goal was to “strong arm and silence men and women who hold natural views of sexuality.”

Ordinance 119, as it was labeled, was actually meant to stop LGBT prejudice and provided a legal platform upon which to do just that, yet to hear them talk it was all about bathroom privileges. The Church Ministries even went so far as to say that the measure would have “created a dangerous precedent by which Christian businessmen, wedding vendors and other believers could have been punished simply for living out their faith.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I really like the concept of a “mens” and “ladies” room, designated with those cute blue signs featuring stick figures, which admittedly can be confusing if you’re in a rush to use the urinal. For our transgender friends, you’re on your own on this one. Take your pick and let the chips fall where they may. Let them have their victory in Fayetteville, home to the Lights of the Ozarks festival. Goodness knows they have little else to celebrate. All of which has nothing to do with what passed as law in Houston, Texas.

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PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RICHARD HACK - 954-380-8563 X3101

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MANAGING EDITOR DANIEL HICKS

In that conservative city, the voters passed what is known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. A small paragraph within the ordinance specified that no business open to the public could deny a transgender person entry to the restroom consistent with his or her gender identity. Conservatives were outraged and marched on City Hall where lesbian mayor Annise Parker was entrenched. Church and Republican political leaders used the clause to claim the ordinance “provides an opportunity for sexual predators to have access to our families.” Seriously, don’t these people have anything better to do with their time? Members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community were equally outraged, of course, by what they said would give businesses an out if the business owner had a “good faith belief” that the person’s claim of being transgender was disingenuous. Let me understand this correctly--people go around pretending to be transgender in order to be able to use a bathroom? Mayor Allise, in her wisdom, decided on compromise over confrontation and removed the paragraph, while keeping the integrity of the non-discrimination ordinance. In the end, Houston got their law. “The base ordinance is still the same,” Allise said. “It says you can’t discriminate.” She subsequently tweeted, “To my trans sisters/brothers: you’re still fully protected in Equal Rights Ordinance. We’re simply removing language that singled you out.”…Until next week…

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Peter Jackson, Tom Bonanti, Patrick Robert, Rick Karlin, Gregg Shapiro, Frank Corrado, Cliff Dunn Photography • Dennis Dean, Big Dewitte, Tony Fowler

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COVER STORY

December 17, 2014 21

partners or children. Without family and marriage tax deductions, LGBT families may pay additional taxes while having reduced access to benefits like Social Security survivor benefits. Due to these and myriad other inequalities, LGBT people are more likely to live in poverty and suffer from health disparities. It is time to address these harmful inequities by ensuring equal protection under the law.” “In general, employers that offer health insurance benefits must do so without discriminating,” the report explains. “Federal law, however, allows large companies with selfone in four lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employ- funded insurance plans to offer family health insurees (27%) reported experiencing employment ance benefits to married opposite-sex couples but not discrimination based on their sexual orientation in to married same-sex couples. And no law prevents the past five years. employers from offering health insurance to married The National Transgender Discrimination Survey couples and legally recognized children while denyfound that 50% of transgender employees had been ing such insurance to unmarried couples and nonharassed at work. legallyrecognized children. “LGBT people are included in the federal hate “This creates obvious problems for crimes law; but fewer than half of states have passing LGBT workers, who are denied marriage and the or expanding laws which aim to protect LGBT indi- ability to create legal parenting ties in many states,” viduals from bullying in schools or discrimination in according to the report. employment, housing and public accommodations “Despite significant progress toward greater equallike restaurants and stores,” said MAP Executive ity for LGBT Americans, too many members of the Director Ineke Mushovic. “The reality is that LGBT LGBT community still face discrimination at home, Americans are still not equal under the law, and are at work, at school and in public places,” said David at extreme risk in low-equality states. Their economic Stacy, HRC Government Affairs Director. “Until security is at risk, their jobs are at risk, and even their every LGBT American has equal opportunity to physical safety is at risk.” pursue the American Dream, we must continue to Try applying for a loan in Alabama or going to a promote social, legal and institutional change.” diner in Nebraska and learn first hand that you, as a The complete report can be downloaded at www. member of the LGBT community, are not only not lgbtmap.org/lgbt-movement-overviews/understandwelcomed, you are likely to be threatened. ing-issues-facing-lgbt-americans. What you will read “Instituting basic protections is long overdue,” said should shock you out of your party-till-you-drop Laura E. Durso, Director of CAP’s LGBT Research complacency and command you into action. and Communications Project. “LGBT workers often Open your eyes, open your hearts, and open cannot extend their health insurance coverage to their your minds.

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hile the news and courts are packed with reports of advances in same-sex marriage victories, any hope that the LGBT community will soon be equal in all segments of society is a dream that is all too distant. Or so says a new report issued this week by the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) in association with the Center for American Progress (CAP), GLADD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Under the dry title of Understanding Issues Facing LGBT Americans, this 20-page primer details legal restrictions placed on gays and lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals in every single state in the union. It’s concise and frightening to read from the comfort of Wilton Manors, Florida. According to the report, while we hold hands, kiss openly, and assume a live-and-let-live attitude, we are actually just acclimated to a two-tier system where we must navigate vastly differing state laws coupled with an ongoing lack of protections under federal law. While it’s true we can now marry in 35 states, a complete lack of widespread nondiscrimination protections means wearing a wedding ring to work can result in a gay worker being legally fired in 29 states. In most states, LGBT people can also still be refused service and denied housing, and there are no laws protecting LGBT students against bullying in schools. America’s estimated 5.4 million LGBT workers face inequality, unfairness, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace,” the primer states. “A 2012 survey in California found that 13% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults were unemployed, compared to 10% of straight adults.Transgender workers have twice the unemployment rate of the population as a whole. According to the Williams Institute, more than

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Explosive Report: GAY DISCRIMINATION IS THE FACE OF AMERICA

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BY RICHARD HACK

December 17, 2014

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December 17, 2014

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BAR MAP

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December 17, 2014

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The Week 12/18-12/24

28 December 17, 2014

Noises Off!, Avant & The Dead

DEBBY WONG

THE WEEK

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BY PATRICK ROBERT

Ben Vereen at Jazziz, December 18th in Boca Raton

12/18

12/19

Ben Vereen – Fort Lauderdale

The Nutcracker – Orlando

Blue October – Tampa

Ben Vereen’s career is legendary. He was one of the top Broadway actors in the 1970s, having appeared in a string of major musicals. His breakthrough success started when he played Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. For that role he was nominated for a Tony Award for Beast Featured Actor in a Musical. The following year earned him a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Pippin. The accolades allowed him to transition to roles in both television and film, having consistently been nominated for both Golden Globe Awards and Emmys. Tonight he performs a live set at Jazziz. 7:30 p.m. Jazziz. 201 Plaza Real. Boca Raton. 33432.

The Orlando Ballet tells the classic story of The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s famous holiday ballet is adapted from the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The score is considered one of the most famous compositions, noted for its use of the celesta. The plot revolves around Marie and a Nutcracker Prince as they enter a winter wonderland filled with exotic creatures, toy soldiers, sugar plum fairies, and a Mouse King. The full-length production will be performed with accompaniment by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. 445 South Magnolia Avenue. Orlando. 32801.

Houston-based alternative rock band Blue October brings their patented sound to Jannus Live. The band was formed in 1995 and has released seven albums of varying success. Their most recent release Sway charted at number 1 on the Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums chart. Recent singles include “Bleed Out,” “Angels in Everything,” and “Sway.” Their moody sound was recently featured at the Big Guava Music Festival in May. Current members include Justin Furstenfeld, Jeremy Furstenfeld, Ryan Delahoussaye, C.B. Hudson, and Matt Noveskey. 8:00 p.m. Jannus Live. 200 First Ave. N. St. Petersburg. 33701.

James Joyce’s The Dead – Orlando

Fleetwood Mac’s storied career began in the late 1960s before the various band member changes.

12/21

Miami’s holiday fair is back with all of its Christmas themed decorations and rides in the glorious heat of Florida. Santa’s Enchanted Forest is the world’s largest Christmas theme park with over 100 rides, shows, games, and at-

Avant – Jacksonville Inspired by controversial singer R. Kelly, Myron Avant sings the same type of sultry R&B music. His best known hits include “Sep-

tractions. The magic of Christmas can be experienced through their various interesting features: South Florida’s tallest Christmas tree, millions of dazzling lights, hundreds of themed displays, festive Christmas music, and delicious foods from around the world. 5:00 p.m. Tropical Park. 7900 SW 40th St. Miami. 33155.

12/23

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Fleetwood Mac – Tampa

arated,” “My First Love,” and “Read Your Mind.” Along with his music, Avant has also attempted some cameo appearances in films, including a notable role in BarberShop 2: Back in Business. His current album Face the Music features the hits “You and I” and “More.” Sometimes referred to as the prince of R&B, Avant will be performing all of his hits tonight at The Ritz. 8:00 p.m. Ritz Theatre and Museum. 829 North Davis Street. Jacksonville. 32202.

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James Joyce’s classic short story “The Dead” comes to glorious life in this holiday play with music. The story centers on Gabriel Conroy on the night of a nostalgic Christmas visit to an Irish home full of heartfelt memories and lively, romantic music. Gabriel must face both his own puniness in the grand scheme of life and the terrible inevitability of death. The character’s famous epiphany toward the end is both poignant and, oddly, ambiguous. Mad Cow Theatre productions proudly present their own take on the revered story. 7:30 p.m. Harriet Theatre. 54 West Church Street. Orlando. 32801.

Their most successful period was from 1975 to 1987 when their more pop-oriented sound produced some of their best work. The 1977 album Rumours not only spawned four Top 10 singles, but the album remained number one on the American chart for a total of twenty-one weeks, helping it become the sixth-highest-selling album of all time. Tonight all five Fleetwood Mac members will be on stage for the first time in sixteen years: Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks. 8:00 p.m. Amalie Arena. 401 Channelside Drive. Tampa. 33602.

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12/20

Noises Off! – Key West Michael Frayn’s 1982 play Noises Off revolves around a play within a play titled Nothing On. In the three acts of Noises Off various versions of Nothing On are performed. Act one deals with a chaotic dress rehearsal; act two shows a Wednesday matinee seen from backstage as the casts’ relationships deteriorate; and act three is near the end of the ten-week run in which a series of mishaps threaten to ruin the play. The original won a Drama Desk and Evening Standard Award for Best Play. 8:00 p.m. 310 Wall Street. Key West. 33040.

12/22

Santa’s Enchanted Forest – Miami

12/24

Sal Richards – Fort Lauderdale

December 17, 2014 29

COURTESY OF FLEETWOOD MAC FACEBOOK

Fleetwood Mac 12/20

The veteran Catskills comic brings his entertaining chops to Temple Torah. Sal began his career as the lead singer for a group called the Royal Aires. On one fateful night he stepped in for the emcee and became such a huge hit he was immediately hired as the house comic. He’s performed throughout the country and earned such acclaim as being voted the “Entertainment Industry’s Hot Comic” by the New York Friars Club and “Entertainer of the Year in Atlantic City.” He has also written an autobiography titled Behind the Laughter, Hidden Tears. 7:30 p.m. Temple Torah. 8600 Jog Road. Boynton Beach. 33472.

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Actor with Dexter-ity

December 17, 2014

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PUZZLE

ACROSS 1 Deer, or without a dear 5 Verdon, who played Lola 9 Hollywood Squares choice 14 ___ Alto, California 15 Estimate ending 16 Intense desires 17 Doug Mattis leap 18 Male escort 19 Hamlet’s father, e.g. 20 TV series with “dexter-ity”? 23 Branch of math, briefly 24 C her’s portrayer in Clueless 28 Comic-strip Viking 31 With 39- and 46-Across, Broadway show with “dexter-ity”? 34 US citizen 35 Dramatist Williams, for short? 36 P on fraternity row 37 Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Kinky ___ 39 See 31-Across 40 Part of a daisy chain? 42 NATO turf 43 River in an Alec Baldwin film 45 Oliver Twist request 46 See 31-Across 49 Nathan and family 50 High-spirited horses

1 Oral votes 5 53 Dexter star 59 “In Russia, Party will always find you” comic Smirnoff 62 Bone by the humerus 63 Georgetown athlete 64 Use a gifted tongue 65 Chose not to swallow 66 Roadside stops 67 One who works his shaft 68 Part of a vacuum that sucks 69 Student’s book DOWN 1 Sites for three men in a tub 2 Jodie Foster’s ___ Driver 3 Glenn, in Fatal Attraction 4 Vehicle for Patty Sheehan’s sport 5 Old TV comedian George 6 Pitiable person 7 Hairy twin 8 Verb, for example 9 She played tomb raider Lara 10 Lou of Glenn Burke’s sport 11 Vintage wheels 12 Wood and more 13 Hrs. in Rehoboth Beach 21 Stud site 22 First light

5 It’s got milk 2 26 Words from a closet, perhaps 27 Is nuts over 28 Writ of ___ corpus 29 Check information 30 Takei of Star Trek 32 Moral code 33 “Look at Me, I’m Sandra ___” 38 One who’s hobby is just plane risky? 39 Spank 41 Les Miz, for example 44 Cheesehead’s st. 47 Couch potato’s tool 48 The Lion King voice roles for Whoopi and others 49 Lake, to fifty million Frenchmen 52 Make heady 54 Kind of money 55 Food on the floor, maybe 56 Tops 57 Mountain cat 58 Bringing up the rear 59 ___ Kippur 60 Paul Newman role in Exodus 61 Toto’s home st.

For the solution to this puzzle, go to www.floridaagend.com/puzzle

SCREEN SAVOR

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BY GREGG SHAPIRO

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TOP AND BOTTOM

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COURTESY OF SONY CLASSICS

Foxcatcher

as to who and what he really is. Let’s just say you’ll never look at tampons and hot sauce in the same way again. As a director, Rock gets outstanding performances from his cast in both small and large roles. However, Rock might want to update some of his references, say substituting Ellen DeGeneres (easily the most famous lesbian in the world) for k.d. lang (love her, but she’s not as famous as she used to be) in a tastefully made lesbian joke. For the record, the Top Five of the title refers to lists of favorite things, in this case, hip-hop acts.

friend was purchased for him by his ancient equestrian mother Jean (Vanessa Redgrave), blossoms in Mark’s presence, and vice versa. Mark gets into top form so that he can earn the medals that mean so much to him and his benefactor. But it doesn’t take long before things get ugly. DuPont drinks too much and is a cokehead. Mark soon follows suit. Before you know it, John tells Mark he’s an “ungrateful ape.” Dave (and his wife and kids) are also lured into DuPont’s warped web, and in case you missed the news story, that also ends badly. Foxcatcher feels less accomplished than Miller’s feature film directorial debut Capote, which was also a mood piece that better maintained the mood. If spending more than two hours with a brooding Channing Tatum in a singlet and a beakier and geekier Steve Carell is your idea of entertainment, then definitely see Foxcatcher. If not, there’s no reason to get caught up in the movie.

ased on a true story, Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics), begins in the late 1980s as Olympic gold medalist Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) earns a meager $20 for a speaking engagement at an elementary school. He brings his medal, which he earned at the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles in 1984, to show the

students. Back home, where he eats ramen noodles flavored with hot sauce, his existence seems fairly lonely. Close to his older brother, college wrestling coach Dave (Mark Ruffalo), he comes to campus to work out with him on a regular basis. Right from the start, the presence of wrestlers gives Foxcatcher a vaguely homoerotic quality. The brutal ballet that occurs on the wrestling mat, when Mark is training with Dave or other wrestlers, or competing, is almost as arousing as it is assaultive. Basically a walking head injury with cauliflower ears, Mark is wooed by wealthy social misfit and patriot John DuPont (Steve Carell in a prosthetic nose. No, really!). He’s flown first class and then delivered by helicopter to DuPont’s estate on the outskirts of Valley Forge. The practice facilities there are the finest money can buy, even if the social interaction is awkward and uncomfortable. John, whose only childhood best

December 17, 2014

hen a character says “everything means something” early in Top Five (Paramount), written/ directed by/starring Chris Rock, it’s a clue to pay attention. For example, Into The Woods isn’t the only Christmas season movie in which Cinderella, a prince and princess make appearances. After making millions in a series of Hammy The Bear movies, comedian/actor André (comedian/actor Rock) is looking for more meaning in his life and career. Of course, he probably won’t find it in a pending marriage to Bravo reality TV star Erica (Gabrielle Union). But it was Erica who was there for André following his issues with substance abuse and his run-in with the law. He also probably won’t find much meaning (or money) in his first serious acting role in Uprize (sic) as a Haitian revolutionary. He might find it in the following places. During a return visit to the NYC housing project where he grew up, where he runs into his unpleasant father Carl (Ben Vereen), and is feted by his ex-wife (Sherri Shepard) and a circle of friends (including Tracy Morgan and Leslie Jones). A bachelor party, where he gets helpful and hilarious advice from guests/friends Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg and Adam Sandler. An impromptu comedy club appearance where he rediscovers his groove and keeps the crowd in stitches will also have a favorable impact. It’s in scenes such as these, with their natural and relaxed humor, that Top Five is a top-notch comedy. All of this is revealed as New York Times journalist Chelsea (Rosario Dawson), a writer with a variety of pseudonyms, is interviewing André. Single mom Chelsea has her own issues, including an elusive DJ boyfriend whose sexual proclivities should have been a clue to her

TRAVEL

WAITING FOR THE BALL TO DROP New Year’s Eve in New York City

ew York City Is there any place more associated with New Year’s Eve than Times Square? It’s estimated that between those at the event, television coverage and Internet streams, more than one billion people will watch the ball drop this year. If you’re willing to face what the polar vortex may have in store, there are a number of New Year’s Eve packages available. NYC Event Promoters produce “The Ball Drop” an all-inclusive event. “The Ball Drop” pass brings access to various restaurants, lounges, nightclubs, and event spaces in and around Times Square all while bypassing barricades. “The Ball Drop” pass includes; premium open bar, food at participating venues, access to numerous parties in and around Times Square, front of line access for select venues. For more information, go to balldrop.com. The Ava Penthouse at the Dream Hotel (210 W 55th St.) offers stunning panoramic views of New York from its rooftop deck. Ava’s package includes dancing to the city’s most popular DJs, a six-hour premium open bar, hors d’oeuvres from 9-11p.m. and party favors in addition to a champagne toast at midnight. Admission is $179; priority admission (one hour early) is $259

Of course, you can’t go to New York without taking in a show and there are plenty of options.

Times Square, New York City

SEAN PAVONE

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34 December 17, 2014

BY RICK KARLIN

and includes an extra hour of open bar before the general admission crowd arrives, as well as entry via a separate VIP line. The Platinum VIP ticket is $399 and includes bottle service featuring Grey Goose Vodka and Moet Imperial Champagne. For another $100 you get a table with a Times Square view. As you might expect, there are numerous parties at clubs and venues throughout the city. The Black and White Ball is at The Chelsea Art Museum (556 W. 22nd St.) featuring DJs Corey Craig and Lina, with a live performance by Deborah Cox. “Evolve” features DJs Peter Balley, Victor Calderone, Getdown, Klutch, Paco Osuna, and Richie Santana at Pacha (618 W. 46th St.), Bianca del Rio hosts “Glitterball” at Vlada (331 W. 51st) and the legendary

Lucky Cheng’s (24 First Ave.) hosts “A New Year’s Cockin’ Eve” costume party set to tracks by DJs Johnny Dynell and Michael Magnan. Splash (50 West 17th St.) welcomes DJs Ian Ford and Max Rodriguez and Kim Sozzi performs. “New Year’s Pop!” with DJ Bill Coleman spinning at g Lounge (225 W. 19th) and Chelsea Brewing Company (Pier 59, 18th St. at the West Side Highway) holds “Perfect Ten: A Trans Spectacle” with DJs Nasty, Esq, Noa D, Roze-Royze, ShErOck, and Tease. Don Hill’s, (511 Greenwich St.) has “Rated X: Red & Black Masquerade Ball” hosted by Peppermint Gummybear. Masks required (pants not so much). Of course, you can’t go to New York without taking in a show and there are plenty of options before popping your

cork. Sandra Bernhard Is #blessed runs Dec 26-31 at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette St.) Hedwig and the Angry Inch is at The Belasco Theatre (111 W 44th St.), Book of Mormon continues at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre (230 W 49th St.), Kinky Boots is at The Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 W 45th St.) or head over to Brooklyn and catch a concert by Elton John at Barclays Center (620 Atlantic Ave., Prospect Heights). What better way to celebrate the New Year than by heading down to Coney Island Beach (Surf Ave. between Ocean Pkwy. and W 37th.) to see the Coney Island Polar Bear Club members take their annual cold water dip? If that doesn’t make you want to hurry back to sunny and warm south Florida, I don’t know what will.

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TRAVEL BY RICK KARLIN

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had developed a following. In port cities, many shopkeepers and city businesses set their clocks to the ball drop. Western Union installed a time ball at its New York City headquarters in on Broadway in 1877, a time when the ball was still dropped at noon. Adolph Ochs, the publisher of the New York Times convinced the city to rename the intersection of Broadway, 42nd St. and 7th Ave. Times Square after the newspaper. In 1904, in an attempt to draw people away from the traditional Wall St. New Year’s Eve gathering space, Ochs announced a New Year’s Eve party and promised fireworks at midnight. His scheme worked and within three years, Times Square became the place to gather at midnight. The news coverage became great publicity for his newspaper. In 1907, Ochs couldn’t get a permit for the fireworks. Instead, he installed a seven-hundredpound sphere of iron and wood, covered with 100 light bulbs, and had it lowered from the flagpole at midnight. The tradition has continued since then except for 1942 and ’43 during wartime blackouts. Originally the ball was lowered using a system of ropes and pulleys and timed to a stop watch. In 1995 computers and mechanical devises were instituted. Now it is controlled by a computer system calibrated to the laser-cooled atomic clock in Colorado used as the official time standard for the United States.

December 17, 2014

he Times Square midnight ball drop on New Year’s Eve is so iconic that it is imitated around the world, with local versions dropping everything from a wheel of cheese to Key West’s famous dropping of a drag queen named Sushi in a high heel. But how did the custom originate? Before there were time zones, most American cities kept their own time, based on the sun. However, sailing ships needed to know the exact time in order to navigate knowing their precise longitude. They usually relied on a marine chronometer, which looked like an over-sized pocket watch encased in a devise similar to a gyroscope. The device needed to be recalibrated often, which meant going ashore. In 1818 the Royal Navy began using a visual signal in Portsmouth, England so that the mechanism could be reset. The signal used two balls set on a flagpole at the shore; one fixed in place, the second mobile. Just before noon, the second ball was raised and aligned with the stationary ball. At that point the sea captains, viewing through a telescope, would not be able to see any light between the balls. The second ball was dropped at precisely noon and sailing ships would set their chronometers against the official time. Other port cities soon adopted the practice. By the late 1800s, technological advancements eliminated the need for recalibration of chronometers. However, the time balls

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WHY DROP A BALL?

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BY PETER JACKSON, CPT

WHY AREN’T YOU AT YOUR GOAL WEIGHT TODAY?

FITNESS MAN

t’s not like you started your fitness journey yesterday. Having a fit, muscle toned body and a flat stomach has been a goal of yours for years! So why haven’t you achieved it yet? Listen really closely to all the reasons that are popping into your mind right now. Grab a pen and paper and jot them down. These reasons you’re giving for failing to reach your goal are really very clever excuses. They are so clever you have even convinced yourself that they are legit. That’s right. You’re not at your ideal weight at this moment because you’ve given in to excuses. I can understand your frustration because those excuses that you cling to tend to be very convincing. As a new year approaches, it’s a good time to time to push your frustration aside and muster up the determination to achieve your goal with a fresh start. Don’t let excuses take over – leaving you without progress and without the sweet satisfaction of accomplishment.

Age 32 This unnamed individual is overweight and destined for health problems

Age 52 Fitness coach Peter Jackson.

December 17, 2014

Here are the 3 steps to destroy excuses... STEP ONE: MAKE A PLAN There’s a huge benefit to having a step-bystep plan when working toward a goal. Think about the importance, for your health and quality of life, of committing to exercising and eating healthily in 2015. What’s your plan? Do you have the knowledge and determination to join a commercial gym and work out on your own? Consider signing up for personal training or a 12-week fitness program to get you started. Write out exactly how many times you’ll exercise per week, for how long, and make a list of acceptable foods. This plan will be your follow-along-guide to arrive at your goal, so put a lot of thought into it. Feel free to reach out to me or another experienced fitness coach for advice with this step.

STEP TWO: HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY Your next insurance against excuses is to enlist as much accountability as possible. Try to find people who will actively encourage or check up on you (like me!) rather than people who aren’t likely to offer encouragement and support. Share your detailed plan with these accountability partners and explain the importance that your goal has for you.

STEP THREE: SET A DEADLINE All good things must come to an end, and so does the journey to your ideal body. How long should the process take? Well, that’s up to your unique situation: 1) How much fat you have to lose, and 2) How hard you are willing to work to get there. Find a reasonable timeframe in which to accomplish your goal, then focus all your energy on meeting this deadline. I recommend a 12-week goal initially. Enjoy the holiday season! Have fun, eat, drink and be merry but do so in moderation. See you in the new year!

Peter Jackson is a fitness and nutrition expert and the owner of Push Fitness, Club One CrossFit and Inner G Yoga in Oakland Park, Fl. E-mail him your questions and concerns at Peter@PushFitnessFTL.com or visit him online at www.PushFitnessFTL.com

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Fitness (or “Island City Spa” as it was known to members, including Yours Truly). It would be an eventful five years for Nosal. “That was such a fantastic time. We really took that club to where it had never been before as a gym,” Nosal explains. “Part of the reason previous gyms didn’t succeed in that location was that they didn’t understand the area.” Nosal explains that because of Wilton Manors’ relative size (population: just a smidge shy of 12K), he needed to cast his nets wide to attract members and keep the club relevant. “You can only go so far as the ‘gay gym’,” he says, without sarcasm. “That small community is a wonderful anchor, but you need to expand on that base, which is what we did.” Nosal promoted the gym to

demographics beyond Gayborhood residents. “We brought in seniors, added trainers and classes, and built up the club’s presence throughout the larger geographic area.” When Island City owner Reece Darham sold the gym in December 2013, Nosal knew it was time for a change of his own. He agreed to stay with the newly-named Steel Gym for a few months, but was able to “cast off” after a month Under New Ownership. “When I left Steel Gym, I wanted to buy a business that already had an established customer base. I also knew that I wanted to open a restaurant, with a small staff. And so ‘Kingpins’ was born.” Nestled inside Manor Lanes, at the NE 26th Street side of Wilton Manors, Kingpins Pizza & Wings represents the first step in a Master Plan that Nosal hopes to put into action over the next half-decade. “The plan is to open three locations, with the next one a small, stand-alone location,” Nosal confides. Along with pizza and wings, Kingpins serves “classic American food,” explains Nosal. “Burgers, salads, Philly Cheesesteaks—and our Grilled Chicken Wrap is very popular.” Although a lot of Kingpins’ business comes from patrons at Manor Lanes (“A lot of business on league nights.”), more of Nosal’s receipts are coming from carry-out customers. That’s good news for one of the community’s good guys. “Whatever it takes to get the job done,” Nosal adds with conviction and a smile. In his case, serving good food and owning a great attitude are a formula for success.

December 17, 2014

Kingpins Pizza & Wings represents the first step in a Master Plan that Nosal hopes to put into action over the next half-decade.

religiously attended the health club (for many, even more consistently than they bellied up to the local bars). “That was the fun part of working with Reece (Darham, the former owner) at Island City,” Nosal says. “Getting to meet so many great people, and making so many friends who have stayed friends.” Nosal moved to South Florida 15 years ago from St. Louis, Missouri. “I moved here to be with my first ex,” he admits with a laugh. It’s been a long and winding path for the boyish and modest Nosal, one that took him in 2003 to the then newly-opened Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, first as Human Resources Manager and later as Director of 24-Hour Restaurant Operations. In that position, an energetic and visionary Nosal oversaw the creation and implementation of innovative menus that introduced fresh, inspiring cuisine, award-winning wines, as well as contemporary and casual cuisine to South Florida locals and visitors. Challenging? One might say so. “I opened that hotel,” Nosal brags, but without pretense or superiority. “It was stressful in the extreme,” he admits, “but it was a good ‘stressful’ and a great deal of fun.” Among his accomplishments at the Hard Rock: “In February 2004, we created the nation’s largest job fair— we hosted 15,000 people in a dayand-a-half,” he notes. A brief stop in 2007 in Human Resources at the Boca Raton Resort and Club was followed in 2008 by his decision to become General Manager at the then recentlyopened Island City Health and

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iddle me this: How does one of the most-seen guys in the Gayborhood turn into the Invisible Man practically overnight? “Open a restaurant,” Bryan Nosal jokes. The owner of Kingpins Pizza & Wings in Wilton Manors is celebrating one year in business (okay, so it hasn’t been exactly “overnight”), and what a difference a year makes. Just over a year ago, Nosal was the General Manager of one of the area’s most popular fitness facilities, the former Island City Health and Fitness (now Steel Gym Fort Lauderdale), and his was a face that was seen daily by the hundreds of local-residing members who

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BRYAN NOSAL A Gym “Kingpin” Puts Muscle into Comfort Food

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BY CLIFF DUNN

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December 17, 2014

Contact us for a free staging consultation. Visit our retail showroom to purchase quality furniture and accessories at substantial savings!

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December 17, 2014

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Warmly invites you to our annual

Hanukkah Party Friday, December 19th, 8pm

December 17, 2014

We’ll light the menorah, enjoy a festive Shabbat Hanukkah service, then a joyful and tasty oneg, featuring latkes and entertainment.

Congregation Etz Chaim 1501 NE 26th St. Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-564-9232 www.EtzChaimFlorida.org

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PAUL SLUTSKY REALTOR

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XMAS Eve Service - 5 PM

Atlantic Blvd. and the Intracoastal 954-557-0808 Saturdays at 5PM

Communion of Ecumenical Catholic Churches

December 17, 2014

We’ve added a second Parish: Beginning Nov. 29th at Resurrection Chapel at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church