Today they opened a brewpub in Tampa International Airport, according to their Facebook page. How cool is that? I know craft breweries have pubs in airports, but do any actually brew beer?

Here’s the only caveat: The brewpub is in Airside C, which means if you want to drink there while at the airport you’ll have to be flying AirTran, Frontier or Southwest because the pub is past the TSA checkpoint. You won’t be able to go there if you’re flying Delta or JetBlue, for example.

For more information, check out Gerard Walen’s article at Beer in Florida.

You can also drink Cigar City beers while watching the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

“Coriolanus” (R, 123 min.), based on one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known works, lies somewhere in between classic and revisionist approaches. The dialogue is tweaked enough to make it so the layman can usually follow along, but the bones of the story is unchanged.

Ralph Fiennes, who also makes his directing debut, plays the title character, an over-proud general just returned triumphant to Rome. A rigid, inflexible man, he thinks his honor has won him the right to become consul, but the common people do not love him, and scheming politicians maneuver to rob him of the title. Enraged, Coriolanus joins forces with his mortal enemy to wage war against the empire.

It’s grandiose, bombastic stuff, and both Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave were passed over for Academy Award nominations they probably deserved. Gerard Butler plays Coriolanus’ enemy Tullus Aufidius, and the cast is rounded out by Jessica Chastain and Brian Cox.

Bonus features are the same for Blu-ray and DVD editions, and include a making-of featurette and an audio commentary track by Fiennes.

The Blue Owl, 1507 Main St., boasts that they have the largest draft beer selection in the city. Their online beer list shows almost 30 taps, so I’d say they’re probably right on that claim.

It’s nonsmoking indoors, which to me is a requirement to even be considered as a top local beer bar.

They’re big on live music, too.

They have been open for a while, but flew (ha ha, get it?) under my radar until recently, when alert co-worker Kat Dow clued me in. I’ll have to check them out.

WDAE 620 AM

WDAE 620 AM (“The Sports Animal”) introduced new morning show / expert athletic collaboration “The Sports Page” (6-9 a.m. weekdays) on May 22.

Commentators Tom Jones and Rick Stroud, longtime Tampa Bay Times sportswriters, have already received positive listener reviews noting genuine on-air camaraderie and acumen.

In a Clear Channel Media press release, Stroud said, “I’ve worked with Tom for more than two decades and we always have lively debates and conversations about the sports topics of the day. Now we get to share our passion and opinions for the undisputed leader in sports talk radio.”

“The Sports Page” replaces former morning voice Dan Sileo, fired for an irresponsible, seemingly racist remark. He’s since migrated to afternoons at Miami’s WQAM 560 AM, curiously replacing host Sid Rosenberg who was dismissed following a DUI arrest.

INVENTING REALITY

Similar to reality television, “reality radio” debuted in Tampa early this month with “My Cool Inventions Radio” 4 p.m. Saturdays on WFLA 970 AM.

Chemist/ scientist/ marketer/ investor / social media and radio personality Akos Jankura (who also emcees helpful 90-second multimedia spots as “The Solutionist”) partners with longtime TV shopping network veteran John Cremeans (called “The Doctor of Shopology”) on the new weekly invention showcase.

Calling on “everyday inventors” to hawk wares and “great ideas” (visit mycoolinvetions.com for submissions), the show also offers advice, guidance and actual product pitches that get a “thumbs up” (or down) via listener votes.

WSLR UPDATE

Low power Sarasota station WSLR 96.5 FM introduces “The Polka Party Express” 12-2 p.m. on alternating Thursdays with fun-loving “Wackie Jackie Z” and Leslie Clark, aka “Mrs. Wackie,” playing the high energy, Central European-based dance music while encouraging listener call-ins and “shout outs.”

Another new show, “Holistic Health,” airs 6:30 p.m. Mondays with hostess Nisey Carbone.

Lastly, Gumbo Charly is gone for good. Showmate Bryan Osgood now programs the semi-monthly “Hot Tea with Gumbo” (7-9 a.m. Wed.) solo, alternating with “Sarasota Shuffle” (moderated by ex-“The Eclectic Blender” co-host Richard Lewis).

– Send musings and news to dawnzig@hotmail.com

It is the one watering hole that, any time of the day or night, gives employees in the field 20 percent off their bar tabs. Now that’s toast-worthy.

“We’ve all been there. We were all servers at one point, and we always said that if we owned a bar we’d take care of the people in the industry,” says Mike Buckley, the bar’s head of operations, who runs the place alongside co-owners Mike Coleman and Mike Hogarth.

Just bring in your name tag or pay stub, validate your employment, and drink up, Buckley says. You’ll return for the discount, and for Buckley’s South Boston, Mass.-style hospitality.

“We don’t have customers. Customers go to Target. We have guests,” Buckley says.

For the past 5½ years, the Mike trio has been lassoing regulars from surrounding neighborhoods, restaurants and businesses. The Coleman’s address, on the corner of Fruitville Road and Honore, is a magnet for the folks who’d rather not make the post-midnight trek to downtown Sarasota.

Godiva Martini

Instead, they can congregate at Coleman’s until 2 a.m. for a selection of 60 flavored vodkas and rums, and about 30 bottles of beer and cider (from Tampa’s Jai Alai IPA to Magic Hat Demo and Abita’s Purple Haze). They can play Golden Tee, watch 13 flat-screen TVs, compete in rounds of pool and chill with ashtrays at the black granite counter.

“We don’t expect people to always come in here when there are so many great places in town to go, so we’re glad when people choose us,” Buckley says. “We often have your drink ready when you come to the bar.”

There is no food in the joint except for a machine stocked with popcorn, which is delish with hot sauce. Curb that spiciness with a glass of natural Fox Barrel pear cider from California, or a Godiva martini with 360 Madagascar Vanilla organic vodka. On draft are Bud, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Shock Top, Magic Hat and Yuengling, and “G8orade” shots with Three Olives Vodka in rangtang, purple or dew are $5 apiece.

Fox Barrel pear cider

Sports memorabilia sheaths the walls and a jukebox plays Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy,” along with Southern rock classics and hip-hop hits. About 79 people can fit in the 1,800-square-foot space, but soon, the revelry will spill onto a newly constructed back patio. Buckley says the team is aiming to have the rear space built by football season, with permanent awnings and ample seating.

Daily happy hour is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with $3 rum and Cokes, $2.50 16-ounce domestic drafts and $4 house wines. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 2 a.m. Sunday.

Notice the bartenders’ black T-shirts that read “Saving the world one drink at a time.” It’s true, they’ll always have your back, as long as you keep politics and religion out of their bar.

And if you need a cab ride home, call Drivetime Nite Car Service and get 20 percent off your fare. That’s just how the Mikes roll.

One of their first beer-related events will be a Father’s Day beer and barbecue brunch on June 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. To show they aren’t just offering lip service to craft beer, they will be featuring brews from Tampa craft brewery Cigar City.

“This bountiful buffet packs a manly punch with a hearty offering of seasonal craft brews from our friends at Cigar City Brewing. Featuring an interactive grilling station to include: BBQ Ribs, Grilled Chicken, Steaks and Chops. Plus many of the items you have come to expect from the best brunch in town.”

In keeping with the Ritz-Carlton’s tony image, this brunch isn’t exactly cheap. It’s $79 for adults and $30 for children 4-12. You can make brunch reservations online.

DJ Imminent provides the beats, you provide the antics.

Let me tell you the story of how I accidentally went to ladies’ night at Maximo. 

It’s a pretty ordinary Wednesday night, and I’ve invited a friend to meet me for a low-key drink downtown. I’ve heard through the grapevine that Maximo (1296 1st St., Sarasota) has a monopoly on attractive bars — a total of three under one roof — so I arrive first to stake out a comfy spot. There’s not a soul in the front room. The granite-top in the courtyard is also unmanned, and a severely beautiful woman grumbling into her cellphone in an Eastern European tongue obviously would like the whole bar to herself. The staff seem to have concentrated their attentions upstairs, where a cacophony of flamenco music and clattering high heels have doomed my dream of a quiet cocktail. I beat a hasty retreat back to the still-vacant bar downstairs.

My friend arrives a minute later and I casually suggest we check out another place. Suddenly, il padrino himself materializes before us and demands to know what we’ll be having to drink. We are cowed into staying for a glass of house merlot. I don’t get a look at the label, but it’s smooth and juicy where I expected vinegar, so I let my peevish nerves relax. Complimentary bruschetta puts my bad mood firmly to bed. Sometimes, I’ve realized, a good time is as much a decision as it is an experience.

When DJ Imminent shows up with his full rig, however, I know this ordinary Wednesday night is about to become something else entirely. My companion has beat me to the bottom of the glass and is ready to depart, but I decide to stick around and see what the fuss is about. As the sunset over the courtyard deepens into starlight, women in low-cut club wear and spiky-haired men in V-necks and Ed Hardy come flocking through the doors. They order one cocktail, then two more. Cocktails turn into shots. Outside in the courtyard, unsteady dancing commences as Imminent slides from cool ambient grooves into thumping house beats. I’m having a ball just watching the unexpected sloshery, but deja vu is tickling the back of my mind. Haven’t I been here before? Why does this all seem so familiar?

My detective work is interrupted when the gentleman to my right strikes up a conversation in an accent I can only describe as phony. He offers to refill my glass, and I gamely accept. My new friend chatters on about how he is new to Sarasota, how he’s “leeved effreewhere” but never in a town with such gorgeous women. I bury my face in my glass in lieu of saying something tart, and all at once his hand is on my knee.

“You effer hear of a hh-wine keess?” he asks me.

Instead of being forcibly drawn from my lips, the merlot erupts in an astonished fountain into his approaching face and down the front of his shirt. Oh, shoot me, I wail internally. No, shoot him first, then me. Casanova bolts to the bathroom to clean himself up, while I splutter something like, “Tab. Now. Please god.”

The bartender is mercifully on hand, and through his laughter he tells me I don’t owe anything. Before I protest, the murk of my bemused confusion finally lifts and my situation suddenly becomes clear. This debauched hilarity can only mean one thing: It must be ladies’ night.

– Share your best ladies’ night stories with the Scenestress via email, or on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces Sauza Tequila Gold

½ ounce Cointreau

2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ cup powdered sugar

MIXOLOGY

Scoop ice into a martini shaker. Add tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and powdered sugar. Shake and pour mixture into a margarita glass. Serve on the rocks with a salted rim and a lime wedge.

Don Pablo’s is at 5911 Fruitville Road, Sarasota. 312-6994; donpablos.com.

Bud Snyder, right, in the Spirit Ranch Studio with songwriter Ed Klopfer. (Staff Photos / Thomas Bender)

(See a video preview of some of the acts playing at Sarasota Blues & Brews)

All his adult life, Sarasota’s Bud Snyder has been a behind-the-curtain bigwig in the music industry, giving artists – both local and renowned — a helping hand.

This weekend, for a change, he’s getting one.

Now 60, Snyder, who has produced and engineered albums for such greats as the Allman Brothers Band and Stevie Ray Vaughan, was recently diagnosed with a potentially fatal aneurism. Upon hearing the news two months ago, his friends and colleagues organized “Sarasota Blues & Brews” — a benefit that is swooping in on Sunday (May 27) at the Cock & Bull to raise funds for Snyder’s emergency surgery.

“I’m so thankful to be part of this community, and the fact that so many people have come together to help me has been completely overwhelming,” says Snyder, who co-founded the Spirit Ranch Studio in Sarasota, which continues to record albums for global artists. “The musicians in this town have always stepped forward to help people; they never hesitate.”

Snyder has worked with the likes of the Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Buckley.

Dana Lawrence, singer and rhythm guitarist for Kettle of Fish, certainly hasn’t. With the aid of Barbara Strauss, Jack Sullivan, Tammy Merrell and Greg Herndon, Lawrence has recruited a lineup of blues acts for a 10-hour revue to rock two outdoor stages at the Sarasota venue this weekend.

“Every time I brought up Bud’s name to anyone, Gov’t Mule or the Allman Brothers, and told them he was sick, they immediately wanted to help,” Lawrence says. “It’s a life well lived to have that kind of attention and respect from the music community.”

Snyder’s fundraiser will transpire come rain or shine (though there is a 60 percent chance of rain, Lawrence says), and all proceeds will go straight to Snyder. The Cock & Bull, which is revered for its microbrews and imports, will be quenching the crowd’s thirst, of course.

Headlining is Berry Oakley’s Jive-Ass Revue: with the Rowdy Roadies and the Shady Ladies, featuring members of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. Among the other talent are The Toler-Tucci Band (including Dan Toler of the Allman Brothers Band), Kettle of Fish, Twinkle, Soundwall Jackson, Fogt’s All-Stars, Buddy Gibson, Lauren Mitchell, Tony Tyler, Mike Tozier, the Selwyn Birchwood Band and the RJ Howson Band.

“Every artist playing this show, I’ve worked with,” Snyder says. “They’re all wonderful.”

Snyder has four decades of studio experience to his name, having worked with Jeff Buckley, Edwin McCain, Warren Haynes, John Popper, Gumbi Ortiz, Leon Poindexter, Chuck Leavell, Oteil Burbridge, Derek Trucks, Jimmie Fadden and Jimmy Herring. He has handled nearly every element of music making – inside the sound booths and on the tour buses — from the United States to Europe and Japan. Snyder was an audio engineer and production manager for the Allman Brothers Band from 1980 to 2001. He was also involved in five Grammy Award-nominated records and one winner.

Snyder is currently recording Canada’s Diana Catherine and the Thrusty Tweeters, and Sarasota bands Come Back Alice and Kettle of Fish, at the Spirit Ranch.

His health issues sneaked up on him this year, however, when he suffered from a kidney stone, he says. During routine testing, his radiologist randomly discovered an aneurism, even though there were (and are) no apparent symptoms.

“If I don’t have the aneurism operated on, it will burst. If they hadn’t done the test, I might have made it two or four years, but one day, I would just have been walking and died from internal bleeding,” Snyder says. “I’m one of those people who, for a majority of my life, has had health insurance, but the last few years, I haven’t been able to afford it.”

Surgery runs from $25,000 to $60,000, Snyder says. As soon as he procures the amount, he will schedule the operation.

To generate extra cash, “Sarasota Blues & Brews” will feature a silent auction with a guitar signed by Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, vinyl records signed by Betts, and assorted items signed by members of the Allman Brothers Band, Hot Tuna, Matt Abts, the Marshall Tucker Band, the Outlaws, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

“It’s been a really event easy to organize, due to the love and respect for Bud,” Lawrence says. “He’s just a real, honest, loving guy. I’ve never shook his hand; it’s always been a hug. That warmth and honesty is very seldom the case in the music industry. He’s just special.”

Pete Arevalo, who runs the Spirit Ranch with Snyder, shares Lawrence’s endearment.

“I don’t think these musicians could be doing this for a nicer person or someone who has given more to the community than Bud,” Arevalo says. “He has changed lives.”

This weekend, Sarasota will change his.

SATURDAY

At the Cock & Bull Pub, a quartet of Florida bass-masters will send the boom and buzz bone-deep with 94WHOMP! Out-of-towners Alexandre (Panama City) and Dubsonic (Ft. Myers) go head-to-head with locals Subcity and  Shock to the System, the original 941WHOMP! big daddy. If you’re old enough to legally enjoy the Cock & Bull’s famous selection of brew, then it’s free to get in. Under 21 (18+) pays a cover of $5. The whomp starts at 8 p.m.

Photo by Aperture Photography.

And guess who’s coming back to pay Sarasota a visit? DJ Sinna-G has been charming the club scene for over a decade. Before she moved out to Denver, she made our local airwaves throb with the “Friday Night House Party” show on WSLR 96.5 FM. Now she’s back for one night only at Prana Restaurant & Lounge, with support from DJs. Goran N. and Simplisstick. The $10 cover gets you one free drink, and be sure and sample some of Prana’s signature tapas! Get there after 9 p.m. with your best club duds on.

Now for the promised blues. I’ve mentioned Come Back Alice before, but this all-star band bears mentioning more than once. Has everyone figured out by now that they used to go by The Tony Tyler Band? Ladies’ night at the Five O’Clock Club ring a bell? At any rate, I never tire of seeing Come Back Alice play … each member is a consummate musician and together their knack for flair is a sight and sound to behold. Plus, they’re just super nice guys. Anyway, enough gushing: you can catch them down at Pastimes Pub this Saturday.

SUNDAY

And in case Saturday’s session with Come Back Alice didn’t give you enough of a blues fix, head back to the Cock & Bull (yes, coming full circle here) for Sarasota Blues and Brews from noon to 10 p.m. Hopefully, the musicians won’t outnumber the audience — dozens of bluesmen and soul sisters are coming together to make some noise for Bud Snyder. They’ll be giving back to the man who helped produce the Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Buckley. This will be a family-friendly event with a $10 suggested donation at the door, but you’re encouraged to not let that dissuade you from coming out. Give what you’re able — that’s what a benefit is all about!

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