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Thursday, April 24, 2025

The Avenue

Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  ART AND THEATER

Art bash showcases student creations

Fingers stained with ink and rooms with the scent of freshly brushed paint adorned the UF campus Friday night. Art students scattered with their artwork throughout the Fine Arts complex to showcase their latest creations for UF’s School of Art and Art History’s annual Art Bash event.


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  SEX

Men need matchmaking too

    After Bret found “love” and VH1 ended “Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels,” the trashy reality television gods have blessed me with another gem in the form of an hourlong block of the new season of “Tough Love.” I find Sundays lazing on the couch watching no-thought-involved TV medicinal, but for those of you who don’t, let me recap the show.


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  LIFESTYLE

Facebook reveals all

In high school, I jealously watched my older sister on her laptop. She was on Facebook, a network exclusively for college kids. I couldn’t wait for college — if not for the freedom, then definitely for the college e-mail address that would grant my entry into the elite Facebook club.


THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Hawthorne Heights reborn

The members of Hawthorne Heights have always been driven to form a solid band. It doesn’t stem from a hunger for success, though. To the Dayton, Ohio, rock band, playing music is a therapeutic escape.


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  SEX

Most relationships dysfunctional

Last summer I was visiting a notoriously melodramatic couple in West Palm Beach. Seated at a bar in Bradley’s, the couple’s most recent quarrel had us on the edge of our bar stools. Downing another Tequila Sunrise in a futile attempt to tune out the awkwardness, I listened to my friends trade barbed insults. They passionately disputed whether it’s appropriate to boast about their previous sexcapades in front of one another (by the way, it’s really, really not). Now imagine this: The guy, who resembles a Jewish version of The Hulk, becomes inexplicably jealous and tears up underneath his oversized dark shades while the girl coolly rolls her eyes and says, “If you don’t stop crying, we’re leaving.”


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  FASHION

Adding shine to holiday outfits

‘Tis finally the season to bring out your holiday best for every cocktail party and family gathering. When picking the perfect outfits for the holiday season, think versatility and embellishment with key accessories to create looks that will transition between friends and family.


THE AVENUE  |  MUSIC

Local DJ BBP stays true to his music, Miami influence

Disk jockey BBP’s Friday night lights are green lasers and strobes. Behind the booth, he is seven caged tigers condensed into one man. He plays music out of a classic Buick cut in half behind a bar at club Spannk. Completely in control of the massive, pumping sound and the young, hot partygoers, he can turn the crowd from a breeze to a sandstorm in about a half-second. In his nondescript black “BBP” cap and shirt and with neatly trimmed facial hair, he punctuates every collision of hand to button with a full body thrust.


Florida Alligator
THE AVENUE  |  LIFESTYLE

Racism becomes more subtle, complicated

Whenever I hear the word "racism," I think back to a friend I had in second grade named Christopher. Christopher, it turned out, wasn't big on black people. One afternoon, the two of us were playing on a jungle gym when two black boys asked to join us.



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