Florida

In a press conference today addressing the high cost of, well, everything, President Bush suggested that we should buy food from local farmers to help bolster the infrastructure of American farming and prevent food scarcity. Read a transcript here. Interesting thought, but when I go to the grocery store, I find a lot of produce from Mexico and Chile. I look hard fpr produce from the states, especially Florida. Tomatoes, some fresh herbs, avocadoes, strawberries, citrus and watermelon are mostly what I find. I know there’s more grown in the state and I wish it was stocked and promoted heavily at the grocery stores. Local outdoor markets are a bit better but still I find kiwi and grapes and stuff that’s grown far, far away. (Read the full post about ‘We’d buy local … if we could find it’…)

I just realized I’m obsessed with chicken this week. Yesterday’s recipe … now this one. And you know what tomorrow is! Anyway, I was noodling around on eGullet (Read. Chew. Discuss.), wondering what all the foodies are yapping about today and stumbled upon this recipe. I never think of eGullet as a recipe site and, indeed, four of its five most searched recipes would require a second mortgage to make. This one, using relatively inexpensive chicken thighs, does not. I like chicken thighs a lot but they’ve become sort of a luxury because they are … watch out! …. dark meat. That means they have a higher fat content, but they also have more flavor which might prevent us from adding oil or mayo or sauces to white meat to give it … (Read the full post about ‘Another chicken recipe!’…)

My buddy Hank has brought an important development to my attention: Apple Inc.’s iPod portable media players are hardly new in the gadget world, but they do have a new — and somewhat unexpected — accessory: a protective case that looks like meat. Marketed by Japanese entertainment company Solid Alliance, the plastic case appears to be crafted from beautifully marbled Kobe beef, and it has a price tag to match: $88. (Read the full post about ‘It’s got a meat I can dance to’…)

[JOSEPH GARNETT JR. | Times] CLEARWATER –- Sheryl Crow sure has packed a lot of living into 46 years. She’s battled breast cancer and Karl Rove. She famously dated Lance Armstrong — and then famously didn’t. She adopted a son. She bashed a president. And heck, that’s just in the last few years. The Missouri singer-songwriter can’t escape the drama, so she processes it the the only way she can, building best-selling albums like diary entries you can dance to. She’s an intimate, in-your-face performer best seen in an intimate, in-your-face performance hall. And we had just the place for her. Touring behind 2007 album "Detours," a hit-or-miss purging of all things political and painful, Crow got up close and personal with 2,039 fans at Ruth Eckerd Hall Tuesday. (Read the full post about ‘LIVE REVIEW: Sheryl Crow’…)

Hi all, Sharon Fink again, once more subbing for the charming and vivacious Sean Daly, who’s out getting a good beer buzz early into the morning with Sheryl Crow. (Or arranging a marriage between her young Wyatt and his Maya. Or both, figuring the former would lead to the lattter.) Regulars know my Idol credentials. Here are my qualifications to assess Neil Diamond night: I am a HUGE Monkees fan (”Ohhhh, I’m a believer”). I own vinyl copies of The Jazz Singer soundtrack and the Heartlight 45. I saw Jazz Singer when it came out. (Read the full post about ‘IDOL RECAP: I’m Less Alive Than I Was Before This Started’…)

Hey kids, should be a good American Idol tonight (and when I say "good" I mean "watchable after a few beverages"). Last week’s Andrew Lloyd Webber-a-thon was brutal. But the remaining Top 5 should have some fun with the songs of tonight’s mentor: Mr. Neil Diamond, one of the coolest cats around. Show starts at 8 p.m. Alas, I will be reviewing the Sheryl Crow show in Clearwater. But you’re in for a treat, ’cause pop-culture goddess Sharon Fink will be working the Pop Life Idol Chat & Crunchy Granola Stand, which will open at 7:39 p.m. She’ll also give a full snarky rundown after the show. If Archuleta does Heartlight, we all win. (Read the full post about ‘LIVE IDOL! Hot April Night’…)

Hey sex kittens, just got the new Madonna in the mail this morning. Hard Candy comes out tomorrow. Here’s a first impression… MadonnaAlbum: Hard Candy (Warner Bros.)In stores: TuesdayWhy we care: Forty-nine-year-old mom Madge invites the neighbor boys over for a little while-he’s-away on her 11th studio album. Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Timbaland and Pharrell bring their synthy booty beats and marching-band samples, Madonna purrs out every dumb “give it to me” cliche, and we all dance naked.Why we like it: If all that sounds a little desperate, a little forced and a lot of fun, well, it is — how you deal with the morning guilt is up to you. The Timberlake appearance has the intended Mrs. (Read the full post about ‘Sticky & Sweet: Madonna’s “Hard Candy”’…)

Lou Pearlman bankrutpcy trustee Soneet Kapila filed this suit against Keystone Consulting Associates of Florida, seeking to recover $635,470 he says were fraudulently transferred from Lou Pearlman and his companies during the two years before the bankruptcy filing. Kapila says Keystone had a contract to be paid $10,000 to provide consulting services to the Trans Continental companies, but did not provide any services. Shaun Keck of Tampa is the only officer of Keystone listed in state records, but he is not named in Kapila’s action.

This was a long time coming, but today Lou Pearlman bankruptcy trustee Soneet Kapila sued Michael Crudele, a key figure in the EISA sales program, for recovery of fraudulent transfers. Judge Arthur Briskman signed a temporary restraining order, which prohibits Crudele and his company, Aegis Consulting, from taking any action regarding any assets transferred from Pearlman and his companies or that are the "proceeds or products" of those transfers without Kapila’s authorization or court approval. He’s also supposed to account to the trustee for what he’s done with the property. The order is based on this emergency motion and supporting documents such as this and this.

Kapila says Crudele and his company, Aegis, got $7.5-million in the four years prior to the bankruptcy filing.

(Read the full post about ‘Soneet Kapila goes after Michael Crudele’…)

There’s another big row over photos of Miley Cyrus — but this time the near-kiddie-porn images are the handiwork of celebrity shooter Annie Leibovitz, and are appearing in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Photos showing the 15-year-old wrapped in a satin bedsheet and showing her bare back accompany an interview with the singer and her father, Billy Ray. And in case you think that was kinda sort of a problem with folks, you’d be right. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," Miley said Sunday in a statement. (Read the full post about ‘Miley Cyrus upset over ‘Vanity Fair’ photos’…)