Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions, and observations about the local scene. This week: Lissette Gonzalez balances music with meteorology.

A singing meteorologist? The premise may seem strange at first, then there's the obvious jokes, "Singing in the Rain," "It's Raining Men." But Lissette Gonzalez has no problem juggling the two arts. Although she's a familiar face to South Florida television viewers as an ongoing presence on WFOR-CBS4's weekday morning and noon news programs, only a few people may be aware that she also possesses a show biz resume.

A graduate of the University of Miami, with a double major in broadcasting and music, Lissette starred as Maria in the Off-Broadway hit 4 Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. A New York Times critic cited Lissette's "comic gusto," saying "She is a bombshell beauty with the face-splitting grin of Julia Roberts." The New York Post raved "Gonzalez delivers Maria with powerhouse zest."

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares observations, insights, and updates relating to South Florida's musical environs. This week: The last of South Florida's home-grown record-store chains comes to the end of its line.

South Florida's roster of physical record stores has been dealt another stunning blow with the sudden news this holiday season that Spec's, an institution for nearly 65 years, is closing its doors.

Once part of a family dynasty founded by the late Martin Spector, its original flagship store, located across from the University of Miami, was the linchpin for a chain of 49 stores. The trio of so-called "super stores" once spanned all across Florida and even dipped into Puerto Rico before competition took its toll and made it one of Miami's last music and movie stores standing. Now, like other chains before -- Tower, Virgin, Q, Peaches, and Blockbuster -- it too will finally fall victim to the twin scourges of internet shopping.

Paul's one the left and "Young" Ron is on the right.

As half of South Florida's most popular morning show duo, Paul and Young Ron, Paul Castronovo has become the radio equivalent of a double shot of Café Cubano. 

Whether he's playing the foil for his partner's astute observations on BIG 105.9, or waxing euphemistically about fishing, boating or their seemingly unending stream of celebrity guests, Castronovo comes across like everybody's favorite chum, someone you could bond with over a brew and share some goofy guy talk. 

We talked to Paul and asked him to share words of wisdom. He bragged about drunkenly interviewing Tom Cruise and reading lines with Robert Duvall. 

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions, and observations about the local scene. This week: HOT 105's Traci Cloyd talks about the coolest people she's ever met.

Traci Cloyd works double duty. To HOT 105 FM listeners, she is a bright, effervescent, and straight-talking radio personality who adds local flavor to the Tom Joyner syndicated morning program. However she's also adept at working behind the scenes as the station's news director, which literally puts her on call 24 hours 7 days a week.

A local media veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the South Florida market, Traci's built an impressive resume that includes on-air interviews with numerous celebs of every stripe and distinction, among them Rosie O'Donnell, Denzel Washington, Dr. Robert Atkins, even President Bill Clinton, and then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. This time around, New Times turned the tables and put her on the receiving end of some Qs and As.

Lee knows there's no way he'll ever be able to emulate this guy...

Music vet and

When you get right down to it, dancing is an awfully peculiar pastime. While some people may appear graceful, most dancers look just plain silly. That's because these days, there doesn't seem to be any discipline involved. Time was, some mandatory lessons were involved, and attendance at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio was a given right of passage. Curtsy and sway, grab your partner, and doe-see-doe. Stepping on your partner's feet was an unforgivable sin, but the ability to complete a twirl and do a pristine two-step guaranteed instant elevation to first base and perhaps beyond.

Rush: No mere Fly By Night outfit

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions and observations about the local scene. This week: Prog pundits return...

Progressive rock seems to have staged a comeback of sorts recently. One need look no further than Rush, who loaned their 1975 song "Fly by Night" for a current car commercial or that Yes still draws a good crowd even with a substitute singer recruited from a cover band. Likewise, those who caught Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson at the Fillmore recently can attest to the fact that even an album that's 40 years old -- in this case, Thick As A Brick -- can still sound as sturdy as ever.

See also
- Nicki Minaj of Prog: The Many Faces of Peter Gabriel's Genesis Years

A product of the late '60s and early '70s, Prog came into favor with the rise of underground radio and its intrusion into the realms of the once-dominant Top 40. This was due in no small part to the changing tastes of the listening populace who embraced new sounds and indulged in new chemical substances. Call it nostalgia or merely a renewed appreciation for those more sophisticated sounds, but it seems there's a revival.