Seize the day

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 2, 2000

Things to do...

In addition to the free music at Taste of Pinellas starting today at Vinoy Park, downtown St. Petersburg, is also the scene of the Get Down Town Summer Street Party, the free block party the first Friday of every month. Tonight it's Lorna Bracewell and Cross-Eyed, the Largo band featuring 16-year-old Lorna, a Largo High student who sings and plays drums. The party starts at 5:30 p.m. on Central Avenue between Second and Third streets.

Put on your most comfortable walking shoes and hit the sidewalks of Gulfport for the Gulfport Gallery Walk, south of 28th Avenue on Beach Boulevard. You'll find a festival of art, music, food and neighborly fun from 6 to 10 p.m. today. Many locations will serve free snacks and beverages. If you just don't feel like walking, catch a free ride on the City Trolley. Admission and parking are free. Call (727) 321-0830.

Blues guitarist Walter Trout helps the Suncoast Blues Society celebrate its third birthday at Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, at 8 p.m. today. Trout is out on his own after a career playing sideman to blues luminaries including John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton and John Mayall. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Call (813) 971-0666.

Former Pink Floyd front man Roger Waters kicks off his world tour at the Ice Palace in Tampa at 8 tonight. Waters was Floyd's primary songwriter behind 1973's Dark Side of The Moon and other classic rock staples. Tickets are $35 to $50, available through Ticketmaster.

Country music by Dave Durham and the Bull Durham Band, a regular at major country music festivals, is tonight's entertainment at Rock Crusher Canyon Garden Pavilion, 275 S Rock Crusher Road, Crystal River. The pavilion restaurant opens at 5 p.m.; music is from 7 to 10. Admission is $5. The pavilion is a semi-enclosed building with restaurant, bar, tables and a dance floor. Call (352) 795-1313.

Things to view...

Find out whether you're ready for hurricane season when Bay News 9 replays its special Weathering the Storm. Includes information from local emergency management. 1 p.m.

The Cartoon Network devotes 48 hours to Bugs Bunny starting tonight with its eighth annual June Bugs Marathon, a tribute to that very animated rabbit. 11 p.m.

-- Compiled by Times staff writer Sharon Kennedy Wynne.