CL's 2009 Holiday Auction
Total raised: $12,077.32
Stephen Hammill and David Warner of Creative Loafing present the Holiday Auction proceeds to Merrill Stewart and Cathy Stone of The Children's Home.
Santa’s got nothing on Creative Loafing readers. Thanks to the winning bidders in our first Online Holiday Auction, CL was able to give thousands of dollars to The Children’s Home — $12,077.32, to be exact.
That’s a pretty good haul for our first time out, and we were happy to pay a visit to the Home last week, where Merrill Stewart, the Home’s director of community giving & communications, and Cathy Stone, the chief development officer, just happened to have a jumbo blank check ready to be filled out. The real check is, as they say, in the mail.
Even if the check was symbolic, the good the auction did for The Children’s Home was very real. According to Stewart, the state’s child welfare system pays only for clothing, food and shelter. Everything else — “all the therapeutic services to help children heal from the trauma of abuse,” says Stewart, plus the recreation center, the wood shop, “all the fun stuff that just helps them to be a kid,” in Stone’s words — is paid for by contribution. The cost of those vital services? $120 a day per child, or $43,800 a year. (The Home serves about 120 students over the course of each year, with 50 in residence at any one time.)
So do the math, winning bidders. You can think of that $12,000-plus as paying for a quarter of the cost of helping a single child for a year, or as paying for a weekend’s worth of services to 50 kids. Either way, you’ve done some good.
And you’ve also done very well: Your significant others are getting some very nice gifts. One notable trend (and I won’t reveal names here so as not to spoil any surprises): The folks who bought the “critic” items didn’t do so to get their own shot at curmudgeondom. They’re giving these opportunities to opinionated friends and family. The woman who bought dinner with Food Editor Brian Ries, for instance, told us it’s “a Christmas gift to my husband who thinks he is a food critic as do most of his friends.” The Tampa man who bought “Be a Movie Critic!” is paying tribute to a lifetime of film-going with his best friend: “We’re both big movie buffs who spent high school seeing every movie that came out, no matter how awful.”
The big-ticket items reflected the eclectic tastes of our readership. Bidding went high for beer ($1,250 for “Taste the best of Cigar City Brewing”), broadcasting ($1,025.69 for “Co-host for a day with Cowhead”) and Henri Matisse ($500 for a private tour of the new Tampa Museum of Art and its inaugural Matisse show). The biggest ticket of all, of course, was “Buy the cover.” After a last-minute battle (aspirants included a church and a politician), the top bid came in at $1,700. As readers will find out in the issue of January 20, the winner’s cover idea may offer readers another chance to help The Children’s Home.
I’m pleased to announce he wasn’t the only bidder inspired to pay it forward. So were Brian Bailey and Dexter Fabian of the St. Pete marketing/PR/graphic design firm Rearden Killion Communications, winner of “Item #03: Buy the news.” Full disclosure: Bailey and Fabian are neighbors of mine. But I had no idea they were bidding until the winners were announced, and I was surprised further by their plans.
Rearden Killion runs “I Love the Burg,” the Downtown St. Pete Facebook page they describe as “the premiere online source for news and happenings in Downtown St. Petersburg.” Their original goal was to use the “news” story as a means of touting “I Love the Burg,” but now they’ve decided to take it another step. They’re going to enlist their fans to suggest “people, families, causes, projects, charities” that may need help, and use the CL story on Jan. 20 as a way of publicizing the most compelling cases. The duo were inspired to take this route when, on the day they won the auction, one of their fans coincidentally contacted them to say that she had just been laid off. That’s when the idea dawned: Maybe they could publicize their Facebook page (and their firm) and help people find jobs, get shelter, support a cause at the same time.
Doing well by doing good. Sounds like what we were trying to do with CL’s Online Holiday Auction. Our thanks to everyone who made it happen.
-David Warner
CL For Sale:
Item #01: Buy the cover
That’s right. We’re selling the cover of our January 20, 2010 issue to the highest bidder. It could be a picture of you. Or your artwork. Or a political statement, or an ad. Whatever. If you’re the highest bidder, it’s yours to do with as you please, and it’s up to our designers to make it look pretty. Or not. Up to you.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 5 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $1700
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Item #02: Buy Mitch Perry
Join CL’s political editor for a lunch interview with a surprise guest. (Hint: It’s a politician, currently in office.) Ask the politician anything, and see the questions and answers become part of a story in CL. Then join Mitch to talk about the interview on his podcast, the Mitch Perry Report. And finally, as a memento, get Mitch’s distinctive, WMNF-honed tones on your answering machine/voicemail.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 12:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $70
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Item #03: Buy The News
You decide the story, you pick the CL staffer to write it, and we print it in the issue of Jan. 20, 2010.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 1:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $305
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Item #04: Buy a five-star restaurant review
In five years of reviews, CL Food Critic Brian Ries has never awarded a restaurant five stars. Now he will do just that in a review of your favorite restaurant for the issue of Jan. 20, 2010. He will laud the food, decor, service, napkins, even the bathroom, all while refraining from tongue-in-cheek praise or backhanded compliments. (Readers will be informed, however, that the review is a result of this auction. But heck, all anyone looks at is the star rating, right?)
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 4:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $180
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Item #05: Buy a band profile and a photo shoot
Are you a local musician who feels like your band hasn’t gotten the break it deserves? Music Editor Leilani Polk has just the solution: a band profile tailored to your specifications along with a photo (like this one of Geri X) taken by professional photographer James Ostrand.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 2:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $216
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Item #06: Pimp your party
So you think you throw the classiest shindigs, the sickest shit-fests the Bay has ever seen? Whatever. Your party will be forgotten as soon as the hangovers clear and you’re still fishing Solo keg cups out of the pool. What you need to make your event legendary is a media blitz. A quarter page ad and a featured spot on CL’s email blast. Coverage by CL’s Sex & Love editor Shawn Alff, who will immortalize your bash with photographs and a sweet-ass writeup. An online picture gallery and Youtube clips. A commemorative package you can keep for your grandchildren to show them you really knew how to party balls.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 2 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $126
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Arts:
Item #07: A Wonderland of TBPAC tickets
A fabulous sampling of the 2009-2010 season at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, beginning with two tickets to one of the most anticipated theater events of the year: TPBAC’s world premiere of Wonderland, the new Frank Wildhorn musical based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. That’s not all. You also get two tickets to Complexions Contemporary Ballet (Jan. 14) and two tickets to Opera Tampa’s production of Puccini’s La Rondine (Apr. 23-25).
Estimated value: $450
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 1 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $169
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Item #08: Let your Hair down at American Stage
The perennial Best of the Bay-winning American Stage Theatre Company is offering a fantastic package for the theater fan: A subscription/Flex Pass good for 6 admissions to their 2009-2010 season. Choose from among This Wonderful Life, Blithe Spirit, Driving Miss Daisy, Seafarer and David Mamet’s political comedy November. And then the piéce de resistance: two tickets and a walk-on role in costume in next summer’s American Stage in the Park production at Demens Landing: the wild and wooly rock musical Hair. (Note we said “in costume” — you won’t have to get naked.)
Final bid: $90
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 1 p.m. EST.
Bid for this item now
Item #09: A private tour of Matisse at the Tampa Museum of Art
In just a few months every culture vulture in Tampa Bay will be descending on the new Stanley Saitowitz-designed home of the Tampa Museum of Art and its inaugural exhibition, A Celebration of Henri Matisse: Master of Line and Light. But as the winner of this item, you and a friend will get to escape the crowds and go on a private tour of the Matisse show and the museum with its highly personable new director Todd Smith and CL art critic Megan Voeller. Then you’ll top off your tour with lunch at Sono Cafe, which isn’t just any museum cafeteria; it’s being run by Mise en Place.
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 1 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $500
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Item #10: Take the family to the MFA
If you have an art-loving family, this one’s for you: two family passes to St. Petersburg’s beloved Museum of Fine Arts. The first pass is good through Dec. 31, and provides free entry to the museum and to events like Lesley Dill Family Day on Nov 21. The second admits your family to one of the most talked-about shows of the season, The Baroque World of Fernando Botero (Jan. 9-Apr. 4, 2010). Botero’s paintings and sculptures, world-renowned for their voluptuous, often comic imagery, will delight adults and children alike.
Estimated value: $200.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 1:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $35
Bid on this item now.
Item #11: A photographic portrait by ARTpool’s Marina Williams
Need a portrait of yourself, your family, your pet dachsund? Want a photo for your holiday cards that’ll dazzle the ornaments off the tree? Photographer and trend-setter Marina Williams invites you to ARTpool, her St. Pete gallery/boutique at 919 First Ave. N, for a professional, studio-lit photo session. If you like, you can wear items from the boutique’s vintage clothing and accessories collection during the shoot, and you’ll also get 50% off any one clothing item in the shop. After the shoot you’ll be presented with a final, high-resolution digital image on CD, and you’ll also receive two VIP tickets to the gallery’s ABC123 graphic design show in December.
Estimated value: $350
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 1:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $105
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Item #12: Get dressed and undressed at the Dunedin Fine Art Center
A perfect gift for the arty extrovert (or artful exhibitionist). Head to DFAC next summer and prepare to get dressed up — as a model in DFAC’s Wearable Art fashion show. The prize comes with two VIP tickets to Wearable Art, one of the Bay area’s most buzzed-about arts events.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 1 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $60.10
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Item #13: A month of acting classes from Venue Actors Studio
Got the acting bug? Want to test the theatrical waters in a welcoming, professional environment? How about a month of classes at Venue Actors Studio in Pinellas Park? You can apply this prize to classes for adults (led by Best of the Bay-winning acting coach Corinne Broskette) or kids. Or, if you prefer, apply the cost to theater tickets. Venue Ensemble Theatre is currently producing a well-reviewed production of Art (pictured), and there are all kinds of shows scheduled at the space throughout the year.
Estimated value: $120
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 1:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $50
Bid on this item now.
Item #14: A studio class at Morean Arts Center
This busy hub of creative expression in downtown St. Pete offers a mind-boggling array of studio classes, with something for everyone from rank amateur to accomplished artisan. If you place the winning bid, you get your pick of any class in the medium of your choice, whether it be ceramics, photography, silk-screen, jewelry-making, painting — or, if you’re so inclined, courses called “Wet Felt Fundamentals” and “Hot Glass Pumpkin” (either of which would make a great band name).
Estimated value: $165
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 1 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $70
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Item #15: A week of after-school art classes at Pink Cricket
You’re raising a pint-sized Picasso or a miniature Meryl, but school isn’t providing your whiz kid enough creative outlets? Time to visit the Pink Cricket Center for Arts Education, a wonderful new resource in downtown St. Pete. Your winning bid will allow you to enroll your child for a week’s worth of classes ($75 value) in the center’s Arts in the Afternoon program, which includes workshops in visual and literary art, theater and dance, even fashion design. Then, if you’d like to continue in the program, the Center will also waive your $50 enrollment fee.
Estimated value: $125.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 2:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $25
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Music:
Item #16: Indie record shopping spree (plus turntable)
Go indie music store shopping with CL Music Editor Leilani Polk and get six records plus a player for the price of a charitable donation. Three local independent record stores — Daddy Kool in St. Petersburg, Mojo Books & Music in North Tampa and Vinyl Fever in South Tampa — offer two records apiece. At each store, you pick one record of your choice, and based on your musical tastes, Leilani will pick the other (with your okay, of course). To sweeten the deal, Audio Visions South is throwing in a Vintage Thorens TD 126 MK-III Turntable (retail value $400). Sound good enough for ya? (Note: This offer excludes box sets, imports and/or limited/special releases; and if the winning bidder prefers to purchase CDs rather than vinyl despite getting a pimp-ass record player in the deal, we can certainly oblige.)
Estimated value: $550
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 3:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $300
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Item #17: Co-host a radio show for a day with Cowhead
Football punches? Retarded News? Porn stars? Celebrity guests? You never know what’ll happen on The Cowhead Show on 102.5 The Bone. But now’s your chance to experience the chaos that is Cowhead up close and personal — as co-host for a day.
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 5 p.m. EST.
FInal bid: $1,025.69
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Item #18: Music critic for a night
Were you appalled by CL’s review of the Steely Dan show a few months back? Want to write a review that does justice to your favorite band? Or do you just want to get into a show for free and write about it afterwards? If so, CL has a nice little live music package for you: Attend an upcoming concert of your choice as a guest of CL’s music editor, then write a review and get it published in both the print and online editions of Creative Loafing. Share it with all your Facebook friends to show them how a review should be written, email a link to the featured band and enjoy warm fuzzies when said band tweets about it.
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 4:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $92.22
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Item #19: Any show you want at Skipper’s (plus dinner)
North Tampa’s longtime outdoor venue and restaurant Skipper’s Smokehouse always promises a good time. This fabulous package includes dinner for two ($30 value) and two tickets to virtually any show of your choice that takes place at Skipper’s between November 19, 2009 and November 19, 2010. (Offer excludes New Year’s Eve.) Among worthy upcoming shows are roots purveyors the Eilen Jewell Band and Sara Borges & the Broken Singles (November 20), the bluegrass flavor of Dr. Ralph Stanley & His Clinch Mountain Boys (December 6), the Afro-beat rock of Toubab Krewe (December 13), and the NOLA funk of Trombone Shorty (January 9). None of those shows appeal to you? There are plenty of others TBA.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 5 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $50
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Item #20: The music editor's schwag bag
Ever wonder what a music editor does with all those CDs? Most of them are stacked in teetering piles until they collapse in a spectacular crash of clattering plastic jewel cases. The Schwag Bag package includes a few dozen mystery CDs straight from the teetering collection of the music editor, many unopened and ready to be welcomed into the winning bidder’s loving rack. Some of these are advance copies and a few — like Slayer’s World Painted Blood in its toxic waste bag — are still wrapped in their media-exclusive packaging.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 1 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $97
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Item #21: The Ditchflowers write a song for you
Brian Merrill and Ed Woltil of The Ditchflowers — the Best of the Bay-winning group praised in a CL cover story for their catchy hooks and intelligent lyrics — will write and record a song just for you. The subject? You tell the Ditchflowers, and that’s what they’ll write about.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 2 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $300
Bid on this item now.
Item #22: Go to Rock School
Ever dreamed of becoming a rock god but didn’t know how to go about it? Join Creative Loafing’s Rock School and be at once immortal! Curated by musicians Joran Oppelt and Stephen Hammill, Rock School is a three-hour cram session where you’ll learn some killer stage moves and techniques from some of the best Bay area musical talent. This is a great gift for the new musician young or old just starting on an instrument, or for the more experienced player looking for some help/advice on developing stage presence.
Estimated value: $150
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 2 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $35
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Green:
Item #23: The Ultimate Green Gift Basket, er Barrel
We’ve packed so much good green stuff into this one item that you’ll have to get a barrel, not a basket, to carry it all. Luckily, that’s the first item on the list:
• Rain barrel: Is keeping your lawn lush and green taking a toll on your water bill? Quit wasting the city’s water supply and get this 55-gallon rain barrel (named Best of the Bay’s “Hottest Green Trend) from Rising Force Construction. Comes complete with attachments and ready for setup so you can start collecting rain water runoff right away to keep your petunias perky.
• One-of-a-kind, eco-friendly holiday greeting cards: A set of 12 flat cards with envelopes, designed by Tweeprints especially for this auction. Tweeprints uses recycled eco paper, enclosed in 100 percent post-consumer recycled content envelopes and packaged using biodegradable clear bags manufactured from plants.
• A $25 gift cert from WhyNot Boutique: One of the greenest shops around, with every kind of gift from candles to crafts to jewelry to elephant-poo paper (yes, we said elephant-poo paper).
• Recycled juice box sling bag: Keep those non-biodegradable juice pouches out of the landfill and wear them on your shoulder instead. The bag from GoGreenItems.com. is primarily blue, 7”H x 7”L with a 19.5” strap.
• Green gift basket from Tampa Street Market: A green grab bag with such goodies as an Envirosax reusable, foldable shopping bag; a wirebound Papergeist journal made by a local artist group in Tampa from reused paper with a cover made from record album covers; a bottle opener repurposed from a bike chain; and a clean-burning soy candle.
• A Jimi Hendrix T-shirt that’s literally green: A made-in-Alabama organic cotton tee (adult XL) dyed in clay and emblazoned with an image of Jimi Hendrix as a tree, from It’s Our Nature.
Estimated total value: $300
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 3 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $120.99
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Item #24: The Green Power Lunch
Are you a devoted environmentalist? Do you recycle, compost, conserve and sustain, and admire the leaders who encourage the rest of us to do the same? Then you’ll want to bid on The Green Power Lunch, a chance to break bread with two of Tampa Bay’s greenest politicians at a restaurant known for its emphasis on sustainable, locally produced foods. Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder (winner of Best Local Politician in this year’s Best of the Bay awards) and St. Petersburg City Councilman Karl Nurse (this year’s Greenest Politician) will join you and a guest for lunch at Mise en Place, known for partnering with local farmers to get the freshest, most sustainable produce.
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 1:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $100
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Beauty:
Item #25: The Whole Family Makeover
If your family (like the one in the photo) is suffering from a severe style deficit — more Beverly Hillbillies than Beverly Hills — then this is the auction item for you. The Whole Aveda Salon Spa in Oldsmar is offering to spruce up the entire clan (up to 4 people) with a Whole Family Makeover just in time for the holidays. Get the Star Treatment for mom (customized facial and makeup, eyezone wrap, shampoo and style), the Manly Man for dad (massage, back treatment, pedicure and haircut) and haircuts for the kids. You’ll shine brighter than the neighbors’ 15,000-bulb Light-O-Rama!
Estimated value: $350
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 2 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $140
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Item #26: Find your true colours at Number 9
This elegant St. Pete salon is offering a very pretty deal for the CL holiday auction: a cut and color by master stylist Frank Prescott. Whether you want a subtle shift or a total transformation, Frank can work wonders; check out the before-and-after photos at the salon’s website, www.number9salon.com.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 1:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $110.99
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Item #27: Aaahhhh, Blue Lotus
The Blue Lotus Day Spa in South Tampa bills itself as a “Tranquil Retreat Where You Can Escape From Everything.” Doesn’t that sound like an appealing refuge from the holiday rush? And here’s something that sounds even better: a Signature Facial customized for your skin type, including cleansing, steam, extractions, mask and moisturizing treatment to leave your skin glowing, and a Deep Tissue Massage, a therapeutic massage that targets chronic pain or tension in the muscles. Make the right bid, and you get the whole relaxing package.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 4 p.m. EST.
Current Bid: $85
Bid on this item now.
Item #28: Shopping for jewelry? Take your pick
The smart shoppers at one for you… two for me carry jewelry that’s variously “old, funky, natural, elegant or just fun” — in other words, something for just about everyone. All of their pieces are handmade with natural components, including wood, coconut, resin, stone and glass, and everything in the collection coordinates so you can mix and match among bracelets, necklaces and earrings. The winning bidder gets to choose $300 worth of jewelry from the collection — just in time for the holiday.
Estimated value: $300
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 2:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $60
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Item #29: A sexy (classy) photo shoot
So you’ve bid on all these items to make yourself beauteous — why not take full advantage of the new you (or the new whoever-you-gave-the-gifts-to) and get a photographic record of your sexy self. Whether you need profile pictures to make an ex jealous or you’re just tired of snapping photos of yourself in the mirror, Shannon Adams of Redrumphotography.com has you covered. She’ll make you the subject of a “boudoir style” photo session, including free hair and make-up styling by the photographer, and you’ll receive a CD with all the digital images from the shoot. A perfect gift for yourself, or for partners who are too modest to ever have such photos made for themselves.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 2:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $150
Click for more item info.
Food:
Item #30: Dinner with the food critic
Join CL Food Critic Brian Ries (with three of your friends) as he reviews a new restaurant. He’ll listen to your undoubtedly informed commentary on the food and atmosphere and pretend to agree, regale you with harrowing tales of his reviewing career and ultimately ignore your opinions when he writes up his review. For security purposes, the name of the restaurant will not be revealed until just before your dinner, and no photography or amateur portraiture will be allowed.
Estimated value: $250
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 16 @ 4 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $225
Bid on this item now.
Item #31: Chef for a day with Zack Gross of Z Grille
Spend a day toiling as a lowly drone in the harrowing kitchen of almost-James Beard-nominated chef Zack Gross. The burly, tattooed owner of Z Grille may burn your ears with his scathing, profanity-laced criticism as you ham-handedly chop onions or ruin the soup, but think of the experience. Includes dinner for four of your friends or family, so they can taste the fruits of your unpaid labor.
Estimated value: $400
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 4 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $305.55
Click for more item info.
Item #32: Learn how to make Tampa’s best pizza
Peter Taylor of Wood Fired Pizza Wine Bar and Dan Bavaro of Pizzaiolo Bavaro are on the cutting edge of pizza in the Bay area. You could learn at the elbow of just one of them, but why limit yourself? Join Wood Fired’s owner and pizza fanatic Taylor (pictured) for a day-long pizza-torial, from dough-making to tending the basil plants, from making sauce to manning the blazing oven. Four of your friends will join you at the end of the experience to see how far you’ve come. Then do it again at Pizzaiolo Bavaro, where Neopolitan pizza maker Bavaro will teach you how to stretch and bake Napoli-style.
Estimated value: $500
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 2 p.m. EST.
Current Bid Amount: $175
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Item #33: Taste the best of Cigar City Brewing
Join CL’s beer maven Bethany Sherwin at Best of the Bay-winning Cigar City Brewing, where Brewmaster Wayne Wambles will pour you and three friends through the entire Cigar City line, including some very rare and limited stuff Wayne will pull from the hidden vault. Afterwards, head home with your very own care package of Cigar City beers, including a refillable growler for each of your guests.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 4:30 p.m. EST.
Final Bid: $1,250
Bid on this item now.
Item #34: Brew your own at Tampa Bay Brewing Company
Have you ever wanted to experience the glory of brewing your own batch of beer? Well, now you can! Join forces with Tampa Bay Brewing Company Head Brewer David Doble to become a brewing apprentice for a day. You will assist David as he brews one of the house beers (and he might even let you pick which one). After you are done, TBBC will give you a t-shirt so you won’t be covered in grain when you go home. Then you and 10 of your friends will be invited back about a month later to celebrate the tapping of the beer you helped brew. TBBC will provide the pizza and pitchers of beer for your party. And to really get the full experience of being a brewer — you are entitled to one free mug per day of the beer you helped brew for as long as it is on tap.
Estimated value: $350
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 5 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $276
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Item #35: Learn about wine at The Wine Exchange
A private wine seminar for 10 people with Craig Dean, Wine Director of The Wine Exchange (Best of the Bay for Best Place to Get Lost in Wine). The winner will work with Craig to outline the tasting — if he or she is new to wine, Craig will provide a great way to learn about styles. If the winner knows wine and wants a challenge, Craig will hold a vertical or terroir tasting. The seminar includes 4 to 5 wines (based on the winner’s level of experience) and light appetizers. Plus, Majestic Fine Wines (La Crema) is offering this Majestic bonus: 1 3L bottle of its Carmel Road wine and 2 1.5L bottles of Cambria Pinot Noir.
Estimated value: $750
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 3 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $350
Click for more item info.
Item #36: Uncork an adventure at Datz
Datz Deli, the hot new spot on MacDill, won Best Wines-By-The-Glass in CL’s Best of the Bay 2009. Now’s your chance to see what all the buzz is about with a wine, cheese and charcuterie tasting for 8. How many times do you get to do a tasting with not just a sommelier but a fromager, too? (That’s French for cheese maven.)
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 4 p.m. EST.
Final bid: 300
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Item #37: CL bake sale
Get the best of Creative Loafing’s home bakers: the nationally recognized Hamburger Cake by Kristina Woo (it only looks like a hamburger); the prize-winning Chocolate Chip Cookies of Luis Perez; Brian Ries’ addictive Bacon Brittle; and the baked good of your choice from CL Cookbook star Susan Filson, whose irresistible recipes include Pumpkin Cheese Pie with Toffee and Caramel Swirl and Scandalously Good Oatmeal Cookies (pictured).
Estimated value: $100.
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 3:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $48
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Item #38: A big batch of CL Eats and Bites certificates
Everyone loves Creative Loafing’s Eats and Bites half-price gift certificates, the ones that allow you to enjoy many of the area’s best restaurants at a discount. Well, this is your chance to stockpile a whole bunch of ‘em — 10 $50 gift certificates to participating restaurants. Get ‘em before they sell out.
Estimated value: $500
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 4 p.m. EST.
Final: $250
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Item #39: Be a big shot for a night at Hooters and The Rack
Looking to hang with celebrities, or just act like one yourself? This is the package for you. Start out at Hooters in Channelside, with a $100 party tab and plenty of Hooter schwag thrown in for yuks. Then head over to The Rack in SoHo, where you’ll have another $100 to spend. Dinner? A game of pool? Or just more time at the bar? Whatever. Or get twice the fun for your money and do Hooter’s one night, The Rack on another — a perfect combo for entertaining your wilder weekend guest. Just make sure you’ve chosen someone else to be designated driver.
Estimated value: $250
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 4:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $147.53
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Item #40: Dinner for four from Chavez at Home
Got an important dinner party on tap? Or looking for a nice relaxing evening with the family? Either way, you’ll be set when Chavez at Home, one of the most beloved of local restaurateur/caterers, prepares you a take-home gourmet dinner for four. You don’t have to do anything but pick it up, set the table and eat.
Estimated value: $120
This auction item closes Wednesday, Dec. 9 @ 5 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $82
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Movies:
Item #41: Be a movie critic!
Are you a film fanatic who’s always dreamed of writing your own review of a big Hollywood release? If so, we’ve got just the offer for you: The winning bidder will accompany Associate Editor Joe Bardi (right) to a special preview screening of a major upcoming release. (That’s “preview,” as in “see it before it opens and make your friends jealous.”) Love it? Hate it? Either way, you sort out your thoughts and write the CL movie review for the chosen film — to run in both the print and online editions of Creative Loafing. After you’ve completed the review, attract readers with your own media blitz, including an appearance on CL’s Reel Projections podcast and heavy promotion of your review through Twitter, Facebook and CLTampa.com. Soon, thousands of CL readers will look to you for guidance on what movie to see next. Feel the power!
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 2:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $111
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Item #42: The Complete Vampire Package: From Twilight to True Blood
With this weekend’s release of Twilight: New Moon, the superfans’ ravenous appetite for handsomely brooding bloodhounds will be temporarily satiated. But it won’t be long before they’re craving more, more, more! So what better way to suck up than the ultimate vampire gift-pack: a New Moon reusable, aluminum water bottle (BPA-free!), two different New Moon T-shirts, a New Moon poster (size 11 1/2” x 17”), a set of New Moon Commemorative Cards, and the two-disc Special Edition DVD of the original Twilight movie. And in case that still doesn’t quiet your bloodlust (particularly the lust part), we’re throwing in the Complete First Season DVD of HBO’s red-hot series True Blood.
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 2:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $55
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Item #43: Tweener Movie Gift Pack
Your little girl is growing up right before your eyes. It seems like only yesterday she was singing along with Hannah Montana, but now she’s dreaming of junior high school pep rallies and cramming for her PSATs. After exhaustive research, we have put together the perfect gift pack for the tweenage girl on your list. Included are DVDs of the cheerleading hit Bring It On: Fight To The Finish (starring High School Musical’s Christina Milian) and ABC’s college hit Greek: Chapter Three, and one The Twilight Saga: New Moon T-shirt. Plus, if you act now, we’ll throw in a New Moon poster and commemorative card set and — for your own movie-going pleasure — two adult admissions, including refreshments, to Channelside Cinemas 10.
Estimated value: $100.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 2 p.m. EST.
Current Bid: $40
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Item #44: Tampa Theatre Membership
As Telly Savalas used to say: Membership has its privileges. The winner of this auction item gets an annual membership for two at Tampa Bay’s favorite old-time movie palace, the Tampa Theatre. The membership includes 12 free movie tickets; $2 off Tampa Theatre-sponsored screenings; free refills on popcorn, soda and coffee from the concession stand; subscriptions to both the theater’s in-house newsletter and e-newsletter; free admission to the annual members’ reception (including a VIP hour before the event); and reduced admission prices to theater fundraisers. Tampa Theatre values these memberships at $200 each, and if you’re like us you’ll save that on refilled popcorn alone.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 3:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $126
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Sports:
Item #45: The ultimate Bucs party package
Things are looking up for the Bucs and their new quarterback, so what better way to celebrate than with this kickin’ good item from the team and Miller Lite? The prize includes: four tickets on the Miller Lite Party Deck to the Jan. 3, 2010, game against the hated Atlanta Falcons; three complimentary Miller Lites for each guest and concession gift certificates; four Miller Lite/Bucs t-shirts; and maybe best of all, four pre-game sideline passes, which get you on the field before the game while the team warms up.
Estimated value: $750
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 3 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $405
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Vacations:
Item #46: Take a vacation to just about anywhere
PassportToVacations.com is offering a three-day/two-night certificate for a hotel stay in over 300 North American destinations from San Francisco to St. Pete Beach, from Oregon to Orlando. You choose from among some of the top chains in the country, including Wyndham, Radisson, Clarion and lots more.
Estimated value: $400
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 4:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $212.25
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Item #47: Get away from it all at Postcard Inn on the Beach
Your chance to take in the newest, hippest little boutique hotel in St. Pete Beach. The Postcard Inn took an old Travelodge and updated it completely, but maintained the period beachy feel, including the bar formerly known as Swigwam (now the PCI Beach Bar). It’s a great new addition for beachgoing locals and tourists alike, and with this auction item you get a three-day/two-night stay in a garden-view room with free continental breakfast and free wi-fi.
Estimated value: $400
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 3 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $250
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Item #48: A day in Dunedin
Who hasn’t wanted to spend the whole day in Dunedin (other than the folks who are already lucky enough to live there)? This package offers a mix of food, funkiness and fine art, all the flavors that make Dunedin everyone’s favorite small town. First, it’s breakfast at Kelly’s For Just About… Anything! (maybe the most accurate name in restaurantdom); then it’s time for a class of your choice at Dunedin Fine Art Center; and finally, settle down for lunch, and some of the best (and healthiest) Mexican food around, at Casa Tina. By the end of the day you may start looking for real estate.
Estimated value: $150
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 3 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $81
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Pets:
Item #49: Wag your dog
Wag, the Davis Islands pet boutique that specializes in natural and organic products, is offering an ideal package for your resident canine, especially if he or she needs his manners brushed up. Included: a six-week training class for one dog (value $150) at the Wag School of Canine Etiquette, taught by experienced trainer Jacqui Silla in a group environment with typically four to six dogs; one week of doggie sits (value $100); and, because dogs need holiday goodies too, a Wag Treat Basket full of all-natural, healthy and holistic treats for your pooch (value $50). Woof.
Estimated value: $300
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 3:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $75
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Nightlife:
Item #50: A night in GAYbor with Mark and Carrie
Carrie West and Mark Bias are the kings — or should we say the queens — of GaYbor. The genius couple who founded the GaYbor Coalition know everyone and go everywhere in Ybor, gay and straight and in between, and when they do the rounds they’re usually bedecked in full sequined regalia and carrying dainty teacups filled with who knows what. Win this truly fabulous auction item and they’ll give you a guided tour to the GaYbor hotspots as you’ve never experienced them before. Restaurants, bars, parties, even a limo and a hotel room so you don’t have to worry about driving home. And why would you? After a night like this, you may never want to leave GaYbor again.
Estimated value: Priceless
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 3:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $250
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Item #52: Get into the sex editor’s undies
An apologia from Shawn “Alfie” Alff: I have no idea why you would want my underwear, but my editor seems to think someone will. I suspect he just wanted to use these photos to blackmail me into quitting, or to give everyone in the office a chuckle. I consented mainly because I felt it only fair that if I’m going to make money writing about other people’s skin, then I needed to contribute to the conversation. So, feel free to repost and blog about this auction item all you want. I’ve had it coming. Let me know if you need any shots of my ass. And again, I don’t really know what you want me to do with these undies, so you’ll have to let me know. I can do jumping jacks in them, wash them or gift-wrap them. I can send them in an anonymous package to your employer. They can include my friendship on Facebook. Or, if you’re just looking for some cheap undies, these are gently used, small, 28-30 waist, cotton, washable boxer briefs. Perfect for wearing under pants, cooking or taking pictures that you know will haunt you for the rest of your life.
Estimated value: $.25.
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 3:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $20
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Item #53: VIP Avatar Party
Director James Cameron’s first film since his little production of Titanic made him King of the World, Avatar is the easily the biggest movie of the year. (Suck it Transformers 2!) For a movie this huge, you want to roll VIP style. The winner of this auction will get 10 tickets to see Avatar at Channelside Cinemas in Sony 4K 3D. And since you can’t have a movie without refreshments, the fine folks at Channelside are throwing in popcorn, soda, pizza and beer (ages 21 and up only, limit one per person) for you and your friends.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 4 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $175
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Item #54: Dinner and a Movie Package
The classic dinner/movie pairing has long been the go-to option for newbie daters, film geeks and parents just looking for a break from the kids. We’ll set the winner of this auction up with dinner at The Belleair Grill and Wine Bar, downtown Clearwater’s home of new American favorites with a touch of of European influence. (Be sure to check out the wine list.) After dinner, head over to Beach Theatre on St. Pete Beach and check out a flick — Beach offers some of the best and most eclectic screenings in town. Where the night goes from there is up to you..
Estimated value: $70
This auction item closes Monday, Dec. 14 @ 5 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $49
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Item #55: Immature Dude Movie Gift Pack
No matter if your man is 17 or 70, he relates to the world on the emotional level of child — a child with a deep love of dick and fart jokes. To help ladies of a higher maturity level shop for their Cro-Magnon mates, we’ve assembled this movie gift pack sure to amuse the most scatological dude on your shopping list. Leading things off is Sacha Baron Cohen’s raunchy and rude Brüno, a comedy about a flamboyant fashion icon’s interactions with America that CL’s Joe Bardi called a “penis shock and awe campaign.” Also included are Land of the Lost, a ’70s-TV remake starring Will Ferrell and Danny McBride that contains dinosaurs, aliens and (in the film’s best scene) hallucinogenic drugs, and the animated Bionicle The Legend Reborn, a full-length animated film that your man will love even as you look down on him for enjoying a cartoon. Finally, get him off the couch and out of the house with a tickets for two to the movies (refreshments included) at Channelside Cinemas 10.
Estimated value: $100.
Final bid: $35
This auction item closes Friday, Dec. 11 @ 3 p.m. EST.
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Item #56: Pre-Teen Girl Movie Gift Pack
This item is sure to secure you a place in the heart of any 8- to 12-year-old girl on your holiday shopping list. Included with your purchase is a DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack of the Miley Cyrus smash hit Hannah Montana The Movie, DVDs of Barbie and the Three Musketeers and Barbie Presents Thumbelina, two passes (plus refreshements) to Channelside Cinemas 10, and one (1) Twilight Saga: New Moon T-shirt. Plus, if you win the auction, we’ll throw in a New Moon poster and commemorative card set. So buy now, lest your little princess shun you and your lame-gift-giving ass forever!
Estimated value: $110.
This auction item closes Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 4:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $31
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Item #58: Ybor City Explorer's Package
You may have heard that CL has moved back to Ybor City after a 5-plus-year stand in a warehouse on N. Howard Avenue. It's great to be back in the neighborhood after all that time, so to celebrate we've put together a little sampler package of some of the great businesses that make Ybor City the Bay area's go-to destination for adult fun. Included in the gift pack are $50 gift certificates redeemable at all manner of Ybor business. Get the perfect haircut at Tribeca Color Salon, enjoy the Italian cooking of La Terrazza, grab a drink (or an excellent meal) at Gaspar's Grotto, and play the night away at GameWorks. To top it all off, we're throwing in a box of cigars from Ybor landmark King Corona. They don't call it the Cigar City for nothing.
Estimated value: $250
This auction item closes Tuesday, Dec. 15 @ 12:30 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $95
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Item #59: Learn to be a photographer
Whether you fancy yourself the next Annie Leibovitz or just want to learn how to get better shots of the family dog, this auction item is for you. The fine folks at International Academy of Design & Technology are offering a three-hour consultation given at IADT's Tampa campus, to be conducted by staff professionals on the topic of your choosing. Some possibilities include learning how to improve your holiday photos, basics of fashion photography, or even a handy course in using Adobe's Photoshop. As IADT Digital Photography Chair Paul Pelak says, "What a great gift for the individual that wants to push the boundaries to feed the passion for creating memorable images."
Estimated value: $150
This auction item closes Tues., Dec. 15 @ 12:00 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $85
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Item #60: Surrender to SoHo Package
Arguably Tampa’s premier collection of restaurants and bars (sorry, Ybor), the SoHo district is not only the go-to nightspot for beautiful Bay area partiers in search of fun and adventure — it’s also a great shopping destination. Fortunately, the CL Auction has both activities covered with our Surrender to SoHo Package. First up is a $100 gift certificate to Nicholson House, a purveyor of kitschy gifts, funkified home décor and unique pieces by local artists that fit almost any price range. After you’re done getting your shop on, grab your other $100 gift certificate — this one from SoHo Leisure Group, the corporate power behind the throne of SoHo staples Cheap, The Hyde Park Café and The Kennedy Boutique Lounge — and eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you’ll have to go back to paying full price for your evenings out.
Estimated value: $200
This auction item closes Wed., Dec. 16 @ 12:00 p.m. EST.
Final bid: $150
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