Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

Clearwater voters make wise choices

Clearwater voters overwhelmingly returned incumbent David Allbritton to office while awarding a plurality to second-time candidate Lina Teixeira in the City Council race last week. The pair have distinguished themselves with solid records of community service in the city. Clearwater now has a two-year hiatus before its next election that will elect the majority of the council. We hope some well-qualified candidates will step up in that period as Mayor Frank Hibbard recently confirmed the worst kept secret in town that he would not seek a second term. The two council members who will defend their seats two years hence leave a good deal to be desired in terms of a sense of background in Clearwater with some very narrow agendas. And city voters will be charged with replacing one of the strongest Mayors in recent history. Perhaps we’ll be surprised, and some fresh, qualified faces will surface to strengthen the Clearwater dais.

Great Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Read the most fascinating article by one of the Politaspin writers last week. It presented all sorts of charts and figures telling us that while gas, $2.16 a gallon at the beginning of 2021, is really not all that high at more than double that amount - another example of the truism that figures don’t lie, but liars figure.

Georgia got the jump on Florida in suspending their state gas tax. The reduction will continue at least through the end of May. Florida is targeting just one month, October, for a gas tax holiday due to their dependence on tourists paying at the pump.

This “borrowed item from the 5:05 Newsletter: President Biden tried to call the Saudi Crown Prince yesterday but the call was unsuccessful. The president’s handlers will let him try again today, only this time using the cell phone instead of the remote.

By a 4-2 vote, the Tampa City Commission approves Castor appointee Mary O’Connor as their new police chief, but she will oversee a city divided due to the mayor’s clumsy selection process.

Quote of the Week: “America: inflation is screwing us, our border is lawless, and there’s a ground war in Europe. (Meanwhile Kamala says) we need to get men in women’s sports ASAP.” - US Rep. and former Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw of Texas.

So what’s up with Curtis Reeves getting on the interview circuit? One would think that a low life that shot and killed an unarmed man would be hiding in cave somewhere.

THIS WEEK IN 1934: THE FIRST MASTERS WAS PLAYED AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL. IT WAS WON BY HORTON SMITH, ONE OF 30 PGA TOUR WINS IN HIS CAREER, BUT HIS ONLY MAJOR.

Lighter stuff:

Observation: Charles Barkley should never be allowed anywhere near an NCAA basketball tournament.

Who would have thunk it? Bulldogs hire a Gator. Bay area native Mike White will take over the struggling UGA basketball program.

National League fans are swallowing hard and accepting the universal DH. Most feel it’s a fair trade for getting rid of the ridiculous runner on second base in extra innings gimmick.

Next week’s Oscars will be hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes – who needs any more reason to watch, but wait – no Samantha Bee to make it even classier?

With warmer weather and the desire to crank up some surfing music on your music device, this factoid shared by a member of our Focus Group: While in high school, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys got an 'F' in his music class for writing the song Surfin; a song which went on to be the Beach Boys' breakout hit. In 2018, his grade was changed from an 'F' to an 'A.' If only some of us could get some less than objective professors to change our grades based on career accomplishments.

This week marks the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Carl Reiner, the creator of the Dick Van Dyke Show. He also was part of a powerful writing team for Sid Caesar along with Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Neil Simon.

You’ve lived in the Bay Area a long time if you remember Super-Test gas stations with their slightly cheaper gas and reclaimed oil.

Five Years Ago in TBR&R (March 19, 2017) In an article in the Toronto Star on Scientology, one of their writers referred to Clearwater as “a down-on-its-heels resort town.” We wager the ill-informed writer never attempted to reach Clearwater Beach during high season, or for that matter, book a room or has ever been to Clearwater. The above reference to Clearwater would be akin to referring to Toronto as a suburb of Detroit.

We share with you a thought shared with us by our niece, an educator: Teach your children to be a good friend because some children don’t go home to love.

Those oldies but goodies are selling like crazy

The Atlantic reports that fully 70 percent of music sales in the past year have been old songs. Investment firms are buying up the catalogs of older stars like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and David Bowie. There are actually bidding wars for these products. Other catalogs were snatched up years ago like 60s stars The Beach Boys, The Beatles and Tommy James. It’s the same thing on iTunes with classic rockers like CCR, The Police and Bruce Springsteen being among the leading downloads. You can still find a gem of a new song – we readily downloaded Dexter French and Wolfgang Black’s Dance ‘Til the Sun Comes Up when we stumbled across it last year. But that’s the exception even for the younger generation as well as old codgers like us. Sadly for aspiring young artists, the new music industry is shrinking.

NEXT UP: Southpaw Whopper; Aggressive drivers; Sweetwater’s

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