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The Sheraton Hotel is going to the dogs, literally.
Dogs are now welcome at Sheraton Hotels nationwide and to celebrate the policy change, the Sheraton Suites Hotel, at 4400 W Cypress St., will have an 8 a.m. appreciation breakfast today for Art Finch and his dog, Charlie, a dachshund who has visited children at Shriners Hospital for the past three years.
Dog owners are invited to attend the breakfast with their dogs and learn more about pet therapy.
The perfect Web site is out there for anyone interested in chatting with retired Gen. Tommy Franks.
At www.tommyfranks.com you can send the former CentCom commander an e-mail, discover his favorite Web sites and download pictures of him addressing the troops or standing next to his wife, Cathy.
In fact, a Winston Churchill quote on the home page seems to salute Cathy: "My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me."
There is, however, a little more to the site than pictures and salutes. One link allows people to request Franks for speaking engagements, and another gives visitors the chance to "communicate a book opportunity."
Speaking engagements? Book deals? I think the general is about to get paid. But there's nothing wrong with that. He only made $138,204 in base pay working for the military, not much for the CEO of a major combat operation.
So I asked a minister attending the Gospel Music Workshop of America at the Tampa Convention Center, "What's more important to a church, a good preacher or a good choir?" He wanted to know if I was trying to get him in trouble.
Bar Louie is scheduled to open in the fall at International Plaza. The Chicago chain bills itself as a neighborhood bar that features oversized sandwiches and jumbo martinis. The plaza's Bay Street area already has Blue Martini, but I'm told Bar Louie will complement more than compete.
The addition of Bar Louie and a restaurant in the Renaissance Hotel will bring the number of stand-alone eateries at International Plaza to 15.
The Canadian Travel channel was in Ybor last week to film a segment for an upcoming October show featuring Florida. The show will air numerous times in October, including four in prime time.
The remake of Disney's Freaky Friday continues to draw crowds, but the boys and I saw it a month ago in a special sneak preview.
I can't tell you the secret theater we went to, because, well, then it wouldn't be secret. All I can tell you is that it's somewhere between Tampa and Brandon and it's located in a historic district.
The theater, which is near a large video game arcade, advertises in the paper, has a big sign out front and even serves my favorite, Goobers. But we're sure it's a secret because whenever we go there, it's empty.
Take the aforementioned screening of Freaky Friday. For a sneak preview, you typically arrive an hour in advance and wait in long lines. We arrived 30 minutes prior to the show and when I asked the ticket attendant if there was a line, she scoffed.
As we exited on this particular Friday night, our secret theater seemed to be doing decent business. Daytime visits, however, have found it nearly empty.
I would tell you how to find our secret theater in Ybor (oops), but the boys and I don't want other people in Brandon finding out. Sure, we drive a little farther, but we valet park (for free at certain times), walk right in and generally have our choice of seats.
The Brandon folks are still going on parking sojourns, waiting in long lines and finding sold out shows when they go to the AMC Regency, the only theater serving the nearly 200,000 people east of Tampa and west of Plant City.
So keep it between us, okay?
That's all I'm saying.
- Ernest Hooper can be reached at 813 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com