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LITHIA, Fla.From Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb to the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland has some iconic characters, but if its a tea party youre looking for, theres only one guy who comes to mind.

Over the next month, The Mad Hatters (Gin &) Tea Party will be taking place at Palmetto Country Cub in Lithia.

Its just like the storybook, only this time youre playing the role of Alice.

The master of ceremonies himself, the Mad Hatter, leads you down the rabbit hole into a magical world where its always six oclock.

And they come in, and they say. oh my gosh, where am I,' and we say, youre in wonderland, and were here to have a party,' said the Dormouse.

What separates this from everything else is that we have more of a storyline, more of an immersive, interactive, playful experience with each other that acknowledges everyone in the room, said the Mad Hatter.

Visitors will sit right alongside the Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse and join them for a large helping of entertainment and a cup of tea.

Yes, our teas, we have all different kinds of teas, and they might have a bit of a little flare on them, mixed with gin, said the Mad Hatter.

All visitors are encouraged to bring a hat, and if they dont have one, the Hatter will be happy to provide them with one.

And the queen comes to check, oh the queen, said the Dormouse.

As for the White Rabbit, dont count on him to be on time.

Hes always late, my dear boy, said the Hatter.

The tea party runs Thursdays through Sundays from now until August 14.

We want you to create new friends, create new moments with each other, as well as together with the other actors the other characters, said the Hatter.

You have to be at least 21 years old to enter, but youll leave a child at heart.

And thats my favorite part of the show, pouring that childlike wonder back to every guest, said the March Hare.

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The Mad Hatter brings his tea party to Tampa - ABC Action News Tampa Bay

[One last time from Ottawa with correspondents Ross MacDonald and Karen Coughtrey. AC]

Before the show, A Journal of Musical Things had an opportunity to chat with Jeff Burrows about their new EP Black River, and what else has been happening with The Tea Party over the past couple of years.

AJOMT: Back in February 2020 (a month before the pandemic shut things down) the Saints and Sinners Tour was announced with The Tea Party, Big Wreck (then Sloan), the Headstones, and Moist. And then you tried again in 2021. Will you try this travelling tour ( la Lollapalooza) again?

Jeff: I hope so, that was cancelled three times, we had two Australian tours cancelled, and we had a European tour cancelled. I brought that idea to the table almost ten years ago and it was swept aside, once the agency thought it was their great idea then we went ahead with it. The excitement from promoters and fans alike, it was nice, youve got so many fans and some may have not seen Moist or The Tea Party, and it was a nice way to do that whole Edgefest or Lollapalooza vibe. And it is something that this country needs, you see so much of it in America. You get a great show at a great price point. I really hope that happens once every other year.

AJOMT: It cant be an easy feat to coordinate tour schedules of four major bands.

Jeff: It was a lot of work for all four managements involved. There was a lot of nudging, at the end of the day the bands didnt care, the bands were super-excited to get out. Hopefully, we can do that again very soon.

AJOMT: On that tour, who are the Saints and who are the Sinners? Hugh Dillon is no angel

Jeff: They came up with the idea because Hugh is such a saint now, and he was definitely a sinner back then. Whereas Jeff Martin has maintained his sinnership the entire time. Dave Usher has always been a saint. Ian is a saint now. And the Sloan guys, I dont know it is swept under the rug and hidden from the public.

AJOMT: On your new EPs Black River and Blood Moon Rising, these songs are evolutionary, and yet they hearken back to your music in the 90s and the 00s. Was this a deliberate nod to long-time fans? Or is this your natural sound?

Jeff: We go by what is happening in our lives at that time. There is never any moment where we feel that we have to write Fire In The Head 2 or Save Me 2. The way it happens is, so far as songwriting, say we are doing a tour in Australia: Stuart and I will head out early, about two and a half weeks prior to, with all our ideas. And we will just start fleshing out our ideas and maybe get to recording some drums of the simpler songs. And then we will do the tour and then post-tour we will go back to them and we will have re-worked a lot of them during soundchecks. And then we will get some real drums down and some real bass down and leave that hard drive with Jeff Martin in order for him to work on his lead bits and then his vocals. Those are the geographical issues that we have to work with, it works out alright.

AJOMT: What is the writing process with the Tea Party? Do you have band members who are the main lyric/music writers?

Jeff: We all come in with our ideas and they all get flushed out, then we jam them. Words come from Jeff (Martin), he feels strongly about that, because he is the one who is singing them, and he sings right from the heart. There is nothing clinical or theoretical about what Jeff sings and how he emotes that song in a live situation; he is right into it.

AJOMT: The recording has vocals, guitars, drums, and bass all forward; nothing seems hidden in the background. Did the band have a hand in engineering the EP?

Jeff: Weve always been self-produced and weve always been open to using different mixers in the process. I have a friend in Windsor that I do these Christmas charity albums every year, weve done 12 of them. Marty Bak (of SLR Studios) who engineers, mixes, and masters all of them, I said why dont we give him a shot? And he game back and Jeff (Martin) was floored, and so did Stuart and I. Hes a crazy brainiac guy, hes a genius, hes inventing mic clips to my drums and guitar amps, all these different configurations. Hes now finding himself on the covers of audio magazines, just a young guy from Windsor. Hes always thinking of something new and interesting.

AJOMT: You have long donated time and money to Philanthropy: ending violence against women and supporting cancer patients and their families. What charities are you currently championing?

Jeff: Annually I do a 24-hour drumming marathon where I play from midnight to midnight. I have solo artists, duos, and bands, a different artist joins me every hour for 24 hours. I garner sponsorships and so on. I just finished year 16 at the end of May; since year 10 I switched it over to mostly mental health because we saw with the change in the provincial government the amount of dollars going to mental health care was slashed from a paltry 3.5% of the overall health care budget to 1.5%. We thought that we could help the CMHAs of our communities. Especially young and teen mental health. The Christmas albums are for food banks in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, we usually get $75-80k of food to them. My kids all help, they are all very giving.

AJOMT: Whats next for The Tea Party?

Jeff: Summer tour wraps up on August 8th, we are doing the majority of the country. After that we will have a writing session pre-tour of Australia in March 2023; so we will all be doing our writing on our own and ideas and bringing that to the table. In the meantime there is so much that we will be doing on our own: Stuart writes video game music all the time, Jeffs solo tour got announced for Australia, and everyone is keeping busy. For The Tea Party proper, March is Australia and New Zealand, then May/June will be Europe and a proper summer tour next year or hopefully Saints and Sinners.

The Tea Party were the last band to play on an evening that had several Canadian alt-rock bands that started their careers in the 90s. And like their studio albums, their live show has a full sound that filled the night air. In particular, Jeff Martins booming baritone vocals sound like he came straight from an opera house.

The Tea Party kicked off the show with 90s hit single The River followed up by the melodic The Bazaar. Drummer Jeff Burrows can hit the skins hard, but what is special is how he transitions between hard and soft hitting at the perfect moments. It is remarkable that a three-piece live act can sound so full.

Jeff Martin had the crowd learn the lyrics of their new single, the title track to Black River, so that they could sing along with him at the chorus. It was interesting that the band could effortlessly mash up singles like Heaven Coming Down with U2s With Or Without You, or Sister Awake with the Stones Paint It Black, and The Messenger which had the Hips Bobcaygeon mixed in. But it was still the big hits that had the crowd screaming the loudest. Songs like Temptation, where Stuart moved over to his keyboards, had everyone finishing off Jeffs lines. Ottawa still loves their alt-rock icons.

Jeff Martin: lead vocals, guitarStuart Chatwood: bass, keyboardsJeff Burrows: drums, percussion

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Our epilogue to Ottawa Bluesfest 2022 features an interview with the Tea Party - Alan Cross - A Journal of Musical Things

Southern Charm

Exes and Uh-Ohs

Season 8 Episode 5

Editors Rating 1 stars *

Photo: Bravo

It looks like a case of the clickbait To Be Continued strikes again. Thats how the last episode ended, with all the women on the cast sitting around at a tea party. It was about to kick off between Kathryn and Venita, Venita and Olivia, Kathryn and Patricia, Venita and Madison, Madison and the ghost of A-Rod and J-Los relationship, and just about everyone else who was drinking champagne and trying not to eat more than one finger sandwich. I was so excited. I thought it was going to be like a snake going through a field full of land mines or at leasta fireworks display set off by a car crash. But no. All we got was one damp sparkler that wouldnt even light, just like the one on Venitas cupcake.

It didnt have to be that way or did it? What we get is Kathryn going to an immature and defensive place almost immediately, as per ush. When Venita tries to talk to her and ask what she needs to get them on a path to being friends, Kathryn responds, I dont need shit. Okay. Thats it. Kathryn is checked out from this conversation. All thats left is for her to make fun of Patricia for asking that no one say the F word, and this scene will be complete. Oh! There it is. Cut to black. Roll the credits.

Venita took Olivia to the side at the party to discuss the confrontation they had at Naomies birthday party. (Why does that episode feel like four COVID variants ago when it was just like three weeks?) There are so many problems with what goes down here, and I think all of them can be blamed on the one flowing arm of Olivas top that looked like a wilted banana leaf was trying to take over her body like an invasive parasite. Once theyre aside, Olivia says she didnt like how Venita ganged up on her with Naomie, Patricia, and The Other Madison. Venita says she didnt like when Olivia told her to calm down and put her hand in her face.

Then Venita says that what really upset her is when Olivia walked away from the conversation. Olivia says she heard the word racist and Im not about to stick around for that. Venita then asks her the hardest, sharpest, most baller question I have ever heard: Are you not here for it because you are racist or because youre not racist? This is a sort of Do you beat your wife? question because there is no right answer. If Olivia says shes racist, then, well, she just admitted to being racist on reality television. If she says shes not racist, Venita can ask, Well, then why are you not going to have a difficult conversation? Olivia, who seems dimmer than an exhausted lightning bug, walks right into a trap of her own making.

Olivia responds, When I just hear that wordthrown out, I dont even know what the reason was you said it. Im checking out because its not okay to throw that out. Okay, lets go through this sentence like were in freshman English and this is the text ofRomeo and Juliet. Olivia puts a lot of extra ranch dressing on thrown out, so it sounds like an insult, like Venita was using the word to describe something completely benign when what she was referring to was Kathryn using the monkey emoji in an online fight with a Black woman, which brings us to the second point. Before she should get worried about the word racist or why its being thrown out, maybe she should, I dont know, inquire as to what it was referring to. How can she just shut down whenever the word comes up? If you are checking out when a difficult discussion about race comes up, you may not be a racist, but you are definitely not anti-racist.

When Venita tries to respond, Olivia says, Youre not going to cancel culture me out on this. Oh, the Tucker Carlson fan cam is strong with this one. Venita points out the kryptonite to use on every right winger who rages on about cancel culture. How can there be a cancel culture when someone like Kathryn, whose racist behavior was exposed several times last season, still has a job on the show? No one has been canceled, and no one will cancel Olivia for talking about race. Wewillcancel her for her reaction to someone trying to have a conversation with her. BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court just overturned Olivias cancellation 6-3. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor writes, I love Bravo, but this right here is some bullshit.

The bullshitiest part is what comes next. Olivia says, Im all for having these conversations Um,what? She literally just said when the word racist comes up that she checks out. So, are you here to talk, or are you here to bolt like Austen the second he hears someone hes talking to at the bar is over 25? Both cant be true. She adds that she will have these conversations, but not when theyre heated. This is calledtone policing, a way to stifle debate and keep people from showing emotion when the topics under discussion are very emotional.

Other than this exchange, the rest of the episode is a total snooze. I like this Marcie character, but I only met her like three seconds ago. I dont care that she cant figure out how to put a crib together. I like St. Venita, who was canonized for the miracle of the patience she has dealing with these white women, but I dont care how organized her spice rack is. I love Paige, but I dont need to see her teach Craig the very obvious lesson that having a lunch date alone with his most recent ex is a very very very very very (How many verys are we at? Add 20 more) bad idea. I dont like Olivia (or Austen), and I really do not care about the date the producers set up for them, where he just talks about Madison the whole time. Also, if youre sitting at a picnic table and it is not out in the wilderness, you are not paying enough for this date.

Im also having difficulty caring about this road trip that Shep, Austen, and Craig are on. While were at it, Im having a hard time with this season. It all seems so disparate and diffuse. Its like no one wants to hang out, no one is really together, and the cast isnt hanging out in big groups. It seems like its the boys on one show and the girls on the other, and never the twain shall meet.Southern Charmis now the changing rooms at a Korean spa.

Back to the road trip, Austen has dragged these two beer-soaked trucker caps along with him to Charlotte so that he can meet with a supermarket chain about selling his beer and to clean out his old room before his parents sell their house. Austen is about to go to his meeting and stops by Craigs room for his seal of approval on his outfit. Austen is wearing a French blue shirt, khakis, and a belt with so many beads on it that it has been to theSmoking Groovesfestival. He asks Craig if the shirt should be tucked in. Yes, Craig says. Youre going to do business. He does not look like hes going to do business, he looks like hes going to a fraternity semi-formal, but in either case, he should tuck that shirt in.

Craig also has some good advice for Shep. Im sorry, but if a pillow salesman who also lends his name to a chain ofSaul Goodman-esque law officesis the sanest person in the squad, then you are all busted with a capital USTED. Shep calls his GF Taylor, and shes not thrilled that hes going out with the boys. Shep tells her to stop being crazy and that everything will be fine. What he leaves out is that Shep has made out with other girls when hes been out of town drinking. She isnt crazy for thinking this might happen. Shes the sanest person on this whole damn show. (Oh, look, shes so saneshe broke up with Shep yesterday.)

Craig says, That will be the consequence of the scars of infidelity in the relationship. How did Craig go from not knowing he cant go out to dinner with Naomie to totally having Sheps number in the course of 20 minutes? The boys all go bowling and order too much food and Shep is already talking to some girl at the bar about waking up in jail, and you know where this ends, in Jaegermeister, infidelity, and Fukashima levels of destruction. Craig says that Shep isnt made for relationships, that no one can tie him down. Thats cool. Thats fine. The problem is, why is he wasting a fine young girl like Taylors time if hes not going to marry her and have children like she wants? It cant always be on the woman to move on. At some point, Shep needs to stop wanting to have his Buffalo wings and eat them too.

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'Southern Charm' Season 8, Episode 5 Recap: Exes and Uh-Ohs - Vulture

Candidates facing tough reelection fights this year are banking on their crossover appeal to keep their jobs.

This week, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., announced Republicans for Kelly, a group of nearly 50 Republicans and independents who have endorsed his reelection. The list includes business owners, a former adviser to the late Sen. John McCain, a former U.S. attorney under former President George W. Bush and the mayors of the Arizona cities of Casa Grande, Mesa, Peoria and Show Low.

Arizonans are facing real challenges right now, and we need to put our state ahead of party politics, Kelly said in a statement. Im proud of the diverse, growing coalition of folks supporting this campaign and propelling us forward towards November.

Kellys play for independents and Republicans is perhaps unsurprising in Arizona, which has a history of political mavericks and centrist Democrats, but the same trend is playing out in other races across the country as incumbents face challengers backed by former President Donald Trump, many who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen.

In Wyoming, Republican Rep. Liz Cheneys campaign sent mailers and posted a Q&A on its website explaining how Democrats can change their party affiliation ahead of the states Aug. 16 primary. And earlier this month, Nevadas Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto proudly touted the endorsements of a pair of rural Republican elected officials.

Our Senator Catherine Cortez Masto has shown repeatedly that she has our back, and thats why Im supporting her, even as a registered Republican, Churchill County commissioner Carl Erquiaga wrote in a Reno Gazette Journal op-ed, pointing to her pushing back against a Democratic proposal he said would have hurt farmers and ranchers.

While Utah independent Evan McMullen isnt an incumbent, he convinced Democrats to not run a candidate of their own this year, hoping the states liberals would prefer him to Republican Sen. Mike Lee. A Wednesday Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 36% support for McMullen, behind Lees 41% but within striking distance.

As Sen. Lisa Murkowsi, R-Alaska, faces Trump-backed Republican Kelly Tshibaka, shes is getting support from Democratic colleagues, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, even donated $5,000 to Murkowskis campaign through his Make It Work political action committee. Murkowsi is no stranger to fending off challengers on her right. In 2010, she became the first U.S. senator in more than half a century to win as a write-in candidate after losing her primary to a tea party candidate.

In a two-party system, parties have to pitch big tents for survival and candidates have to build coalitions unique to their state or district. Its why you see vulnerable Democrats distancing themselves from an unpopular President Joe Biden ahead of the midterms and post-Trump Republicans attempting to chart a new path forward for their party.

A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found the Democratic and Republican coalitions both include sizable shares of voters open to jumping ship. Among Democrats, 13% are classified as stressed sidelines whose political beliefs include both liberal and conservative views, while in the GOP, 15% are identified as stressed sidelines, and an additional 18% are ambivalent right, a group thats younger, less religious and more moderate on social issues and less supportive of Trump.

Not all crossover support is sincere. In some states, Democrats are purposefully boosting far-right candidates in hopes theyll be easier to beat. Its a strategy that Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, believes could backfire.

Its not illegal but it sure is stupid, Romney told HuffPost this week. Be careful what you wish for. You may select somebody who actually wins and then you hurt the country as well as your own party.

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Some candidates count on crossover support from the other party - Deseret News

The Queens Platinum Jubilee has inspired everyone from artists, schoolchildren, bakers and musicians to come up with new creations to mark the landmark moment. And one particularly incredible work has now made its way inside Buckingham Palace to be seen by the thousands of tourists expected to visit for this years summer opening.

The Queens Platinum Jubilee Lunch is a six-meter-long art installation of a tea party made entirely out of felt. Created by artist Lucy Sparrow, it was first on display at a Platinum Jubilee street party attended by Prince Charles and Camilla during the central weekend of celebrations in June. Featuring a huge array of food and drink including sandwiches, biscuits, sausage rolls, crisps, and cups of tea, it is now in the Palaces Grand Entrance Portico and is one of the first things that visitors to the Palace will see.

Prince Charles and Camilla admire a felt art piece by Lucy Sparrow during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Describing her creation as very relatable and very celebratory, Lucy explained to T&C that she wanted to make something that represented tea parties ordinary families would enjoy. It was very important to me that it was almost like a working class tea party, she said. Yes youve got prawn vol au vents but youve also got hula hoops and chocolate fingers. It was meant to be like a tea party that you used to get a kids parties and what would traditionally be put on at a jubilee.

Artist Lucy Sparrow with her Platinum Jubilee banquet made out of felt, which will be on display this summer at Buckingham Palace.

The installation is a joyous introduction to a carefully thought out exhibition which this year showcases jewels from the Queens personal collection alongside iconic photographs that they feature in. Platinum Jubilee: The Queens Accession centers around 24 portraits taken by photographer Dorothy Wilding at the start of the Queens reign presented next to priceless tiaras and other jewels. Famous pieces on display include the Diamond Diadem, which the Queen wore en route to her 1953 Coronation and again as recently as the State Opening of Parliament in 2019. Favorites like the Vladimir Tiara and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara are also shown. As is the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace, which was a wedding gift to the Queen and she has previously loaned to the Duchess of Cambridge.

The Diamond Diadem, Bridge and Rundell, on display this summer at Buckingham Palace.

These are the Queens personal jewels, she wears them regularly but theyre very rarely displayed in public. So it is a pretty unique opportunity to see them in this setting and to see them alongside the portraits, thats very special, said Caroline de Guitaut, Deputy Surveyor of The Queens Works of Art and curator of the special display.

Dorothy Wilding was a leading society and portrait photographer both in London and in New York and first photographed the royal family in the 1920s. In May 1937 she became the first female photographer to take official coronation photographs when she was invited to photograph King George VIs coronation. The image opens the exhibition, along with the dress and coronet that the 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth wore.

The dress, robe and coronet worn by Princess Elizabeth to her parents coronation in May 1937, on display at Buckingham Palace this summer.

Platinum Jubilee: The Queens Accession is included in a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace starting Friday, July 22 until Sunday, October 2, 2022.

For Visitor information and tickets visit http://www.rct.uk. Buckingham Palace is open five days a week, Thursday to Monday, remaining closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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Visitors to Buckingham Palace This Summer Will See Queen Elizabeth's Jewels and a Jubilee Art Display - Town & Country