Trinity Downtown is hosting an end of summer festival in downtown Orlando.  On Saturday, August 29, Trinity Downtown will present the Downtown BBQ Cook-off and Family Festival from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the Trinity campus at 123 E. Livingston St.  Bringing back to the City Beautiful a classic Southern competition (bragging rights for the best BBQ), the event features a iron chef-style BBQ cook-off showcasing teams from Orlando restaurants, as well as some daring local residents. 

Twelve to 15 teams of local grillers will face off starting with the same ingredient, Boston butt pork, with the challenge of coming up with a unique and award-winning sauce, rub or secret recipe.  They’ll be competing for $1,100 in prize money, including a People’s Choice award.  Judges for the event include Chef Eric André of the Orlando Culinary Academy, Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan, Orange County Commissioner Mildred Fernandez and Nationally certified BBQ judge Ed Thomas, an architect from College Park.

A family-friendly festival atmosphere will include live, on-stage music (Dixieland and steel drum bands) and entertainment; games and activities for kids (bounce house, face painting, balloon artists, carnival games and lunch) all included in a $10 wristband; all-you-can-sample BBQ for a $10 adult wristband; food and beer concessions; special vendors; a 3-on-3 basketball tournament; and much more.

For additional event information, please visit http://www.downtownbbqcookoff.com/.

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Head down to Wall Street Plaza today for some free beer (while it lasts, there are 20 kegs to float), live music and good times with fellow Orlandoans.

City Skip Day

Some co-workers and I headed down to Wall Street around lunchtime and things were already picking up. Upon entering, the promoters were handing out mugs to mark the occasion and a reason why you might want to skip work. Mine read, “My dog ate my car.” As an added bonus (one not affiliated with the event), a man in a pink dress wearing pink shoes and pink lipstick showed up and started dancing in the middle of Orange Ave. About 100 people stopped to watch and have a good laugh. Video was recorded. I’ll provide a link once it’s posted.

The free beer might not last all night, but I’m sure the party will.

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If you’re looking for a lunch idea, here are a couple incentives to head over to The Pita Pit. The coupons are good through the end of August at the Winter Park and downtown Orlando locations.

Free Chips and a Fountain Drink with the purchase of any Pita or Salad!

Get One Pita FREE with the purchase of any two pitas.

I know what I’m having for lunch this Friday …

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I started using Twitter a few weeks back (find me @LivingOrlando) and immediately started to search for other Orlandoans using the service. Not surprisingly, I quickly found Orlando’s premier performance artist, @BrianFeldman, who was tweeting away about his current and upcoming performances.

A few days later, I indirectly found @MADAboutWords when someone “retweeted” her post:

“Only two spots left for Saturday’s workshop with Kerouac House writer-in-residence Brian Turner. It’s gonna be great!”

I sent the included link to my wife and she immediately became interested in the writing workshops and events that Mary Ann de Stefano (the woman behind @MADAboutWords) was organizing.

So here we are today, sitting at a table in the Dandelion Communitea Cafe, writing about whatever. There are a couple dozen people here, some with laptops, others with little notebooks. A few are in conversation about non-writing topics. Others are just here for dinner.

My wife and I just finished “Eve’s Revenge”, a salad combining apples, walnuts, raisins, feta cheese and red onion on a bed of mixed greens with a well-named “Balsamic Razzmania” vinaigrette on the side. Served with chips and hummus, my wife and I shared it as a quick bite to eat while writing.

The sketch artist Thomas Thorspecken is here, too. Or at least I think that’s him. We’ll have to wait and see if this sketch makes it up on his blog, “Analog Artist Digital World”.

The room we’re in is decorated with bright colors. Yellow walls. A yellow and orange fabric hangs from the ceiling, with a disco-ball-like chandelier in the center. A few teas are available, including Tropical Ice Black and Buttercup something something on the back table.

Little pieces of art hang on the wall, all of them with an outdoorsy theme … birds, trees, rabbits and a fox eating a book. A sign is leaning up against the wall with the words “a tonic a day!” and lists some various “tonics”. One that catches my eye is “Liquid Yoga” … sounds like the perfect drink right before bed.

Well, time to go. Our first MAD About Words event is in the books.

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My wife and I went to Leu Gardens Date Night on Friday evening and had a blast. The movie was “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, but the night was more about enjoying each other’s company and a simple dinner picnic in the amazing outdoor setting that is Leu Gardens.

We weren’t alone, however. I’d guess 600 or 700 people - grouped in varying numbers with picnic setups of all types - were camped out on the lawn by sunset. Even so, the atmosphere was very relaxed and offered a feeling of community that I find rare in our vacation destination of a city. The evening was so nice that we will be putting Date Night on our schedule permanently.

If you’ve never been to a Date Night, I highly recommend that you plan to attend soon. Date Nights occur on the first Friday of each month (weather permitting) and cost $7 per person ($2 per child), or free if you’re a Leu Gardens member.

Here are some things to bring:

• Blanket or low-sitting lawn chairs
• Picnic basket (anything you want, including alcohol)
• Camera (for photos of friends and the gardens)
• Bug spray or citronella candle
• Friends

NOTES: The photo above was taken about an hour and a half before the show. You’ll want to arrive at about 7pm in order to choose your spot. By the time the movie starts (8:30pm), there’s not much room to be had. Also, the bugs aren’t bad at all. We didn’t get a single bite and didn’t have either of the items listed above. Never hurts to prepare, though.

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Standing outside the Orlando Public Library along Magnolia Avenue in downtown Orlando, you may not notice “Light Waves”. There’s a lot going on in this area and the entrance to the library is around the corner on Central. If you only took a moment to stop and look around …

What looks to be a colorful design element on the side of the building is really an interactive art display. Blue, yellow, green and red “waves” move up the building, while a series of squares with hand-prints move along the wall below. Those prints are almost begging to be pushed.

But there’s more to this urban music machine than meets the eye …

Looking to your left, along the base of the planter, the small plaque picture below presents a riddle:

Upon solving this puzzle a musical celebration begins. The people that were previously just standing around may start to look over and wonder about your magical gifts. It’s not quite like being Robert Langdon in “The DaVinci Code”, but it’s fun nonetheless.

Maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll post a video of . Until then, get out and explore!

Art information:”Light Waves - Urban Musical Instrument”

©2001, PhenomenArts, Inc.

Christopher Janney, Artistic Director

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