Celebrating 10

The Ten Commandments.

The "FBI 's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives."

Ten fingers.

Ten toes.

The movie "10,"  perhaps the greatest rom-com of all time.

Ten has played a pretty important role in peoples' lives since basically forever. Today — 10/10/10 — is its big day.

CLICK FOR MY STORY CELEBRATING NUMBER 10.

Trailer from the 1979 movie "10," starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore.

Celebrate John Lennon's birthday with a bash today at Skipper's Smokehouse

To celebrate what would have been the cerebral Beatles' 70th birthday, community radio station WMNF (88.5) has assembled a John Lennon tribute concert taking place today at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa.

The event features top bands from around the region.

Sure, it's a bit of a haul to Skipper's, but theses multi-act, WMNF tribute gigs are typically a blast.

And you really can't beat this one for source material.

Click here for details.

Check out clip of the searing screed "Gimme Some Truth" off Lennon's 1971 album "Imagine."

Sarasota porn star Devon James sued by Bubba the Love Sponge over alleged Tiger Woods sex tape

Sarasota porn star Devon James (also known as Melinda Jannette, and Melinda Brinling-Caso) filed petition in June at the Manatee County courthouse to determine if her baby's daddy was Tiger Woods, reported the Bradenton Herald.

The scandal created a media frenzy, prompting Tampa Bay-based shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem to cut a deal with James (pictured) for exclusive rights to release all the sordid info about her supposed affair with golf's one-time king.

TV/Media critic Eric Deggans recently reported via his St. Petersburg Times blog The Feed that Clem has filed suit against James, "alleging she violated the deal by either selling or attempting to sell a video tape she claims shows her having sex with Woods."

Top 10 AC/DC songs featuring Brian Johnson

In honor of Sarasota resident and super nice guy Brian Johnson celebrating his 63rd birthday this week (Oct.5), here's my highly subjective list of the greatest AC/DC songs featuring him on lead vocals.

Back when the hard rock band's original lead vocalist Bon Scott died in 1980 skeptics predicted AC/DC's demise.

Johnson smacked those doubters down by penning awesomely testosterone-driven lyrics — namely on his "Back in Black" debut — and delivering those delightful double entendres with winking machismo and devilish glee.

Top 10 AC/DC songs featuring Brian Johnson

1. "You Shook Me All Night Long" — from "Back in Black" (1980)
2. "Back in Black" — from "Back in Black" (1980)
3. "Who Made Who" —  "Who Made Who" (1986)
4. "Thunderstruck" — from "The Razor's Edge" (1990)
5. "Rock N Roll Train" — from "Black Ice" (2008)
6. "Hells Bells" — from "Back in Black" (1980)
7. "Money Talks" — from "The Razor's Edge" (1990)
8. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" — from "For Those About to Rock" (1981)
9. "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" — from "Back in Black" (1980)
10. "Skies on Fire" — from "Black Ice" (2008)

'Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo' singer Rick Derringer facing foreclosure

Rick Derringer

Singer, songwriter and guitar hero Rick Derringer wrote and recorded the 1974 smash "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo."

As a member of The McCoys, he sang lead on the 1965 hit "Hang on Sloopy."

And as a producer, Derringer worked with Bette Midler, Kiss, Meat Loaf, Cyndi Lauper, Barbra Streisand and Weird Al Yankovic.

Derringer now faces foreclosure on his Ellenton home, a nice place I visited while working on a story for the Bradenton Herald in 2005.

"It's a great location for us and we love it and we're going to save it," Derringer told the Herald, which broke news of the foreclosure suit today.

My last communication with Derringer, for an article that ran in another publication on Nov. 5, 2009, came from the rocker's other home in Rio Rancho, N.M.

Click to read "Manatee rock icon facing foreclosure."

Sanborn Studios holding casting call Oct. 9 for TV show 'Miami 24/7'

Aspiring male TV stars will have a chance to be "discovered" this weekend without traveling to Hollywood or New York.

Sanborn Studios LLC—which launched Sept. 20—will be hosting an open casting call for the production company's first project, the planned 22-episode television series "Miami 24/7," on Saturday, Oct. 9 at the Holiday Inn Lakewood Ranch.

Sanborn seeks "men between the ages of 30 and 35 to cast in the comedic roll of the Airport Mechanic as well as people of all ages for background," reads the publicity statement.

For audition times and details, click here.

Buzzing about Bradenton

Home sweet home.

Since returning to the features department of the Bradenton Herald on Monday I have been stoked to find the Manatee-Sarasota arts, theater, music and movie scene as vibrant - if not more so - than when I left the paper four years ago.

This past Saturday at the St. Pete Folk Fest I watched Bradenton alt-country act Have Gun, Will Travel, which I first wrote about for the Herald in 2006, deliver a stirring performance of mostly smart originals spiced with cool covers of rather obscure Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Gram Parsons

Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Damon Fowler, who recently relocated from Brandon to Bradenton Beach, told me today he plans to have his second record out on the venerable Blind Pig label Jan. 18. His 2009 Blind Pig debut, "Sugar Shack," reached No. 12 on Billboard's Top Blues Album chart.

Trombone Shorty at Tropical Heatwave in Ybor City 2009.
By Wade Tatangelo.

While we're on the topic of blues, we have the
20th (!) Annual Sarasota Blues Festival on Nov. 6. Look for New Orleans super-funk sensation Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews to enthrall audiences with an unprecedented, highly addictive hybrid of rock, hip-hop, jazz and celebratory Crescent City soul.

As for performing arts, I see that at the nearby Manatee Players Stephen Sondheim's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Sunday in the Park with George" will be elating audiences through Oct. 10.

Next, the Ringling International Arts Festival, which runs Oct. 13-17, features a slew of excellent events such as performances by modern dance icon Mikhail Baryshnikov and the world premiere of "Hurricane" by Nilo Cruz. The Cuban-American playwright penned one my all-time favorite contemporary dramas, "Anna in the Tropics." Set in Ybor City in 1929, the play enjoyed a long, critically acclaimed run at American Stage in St. Petersburg, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. Yes, I hope, dare I say, expect, to be blown away by "Hurricane."

And how about the TV/movie buzz surrrounding Sanborn Studios? Which The Herald has covered, among other places, here. Pretty exciting stuff! And this is just the start of season.