Michael Quintanilla
San Antonio Express-News

It's no secret that, so far, this has been a scorcher of a few weeks: a Crock-Pot summer of simmer, a season of sizzle. Too hot to dangle earrings or wear a watch. Too hot to walk or drive. Too hot to cool off — even with the AC cranked up — which means the climate is just right for letting off steam about the torrid triple-digit temps out there.

Ay, ay, ay, it's not even August. And we're still six weeks away from Labor Day, the unofficial end to this searing, sweaty mess.

But there are other hot topics — besides the merciless mercury — packing heat. From the song of summer to a fitness trend firing up yoga mats to a pricey cocktail that is hot stuff at a downtown lounge, here's our unofficial hot sheet — a pop culture, hodgepodge heat index of sorts, S.A. style.

Ice, ice, baby: For 23 years Jewell Spencer has been known as the South Side's ice queen serving up mounds of the shaved smooth stuff so mouthwateringly snowy in texture and tasty with a wide selection of 88 fruity flavors. From her stand in a bakery parking lot at 9155 S. Zarzamora St., she rattles off her 10 hottest-selling flavs: piña colada, strawberry, banana, bubblegum, root beer, cherry, grape, cotton candy, watermelon and cantaloupe. A new nonalcoholic white Russian is a hit this summer along with the increasingly popular pickle juice fusion — yes, made with the cheek-puckering ingredient. Often, the concoctions are topped with chili powders, lemon juice and the pulp of the cherimoya, an oval-shaped scaly fruit that has a custard-like taste.

Hot under the collar: Eminem's "Anger Management Tour 3" is predicted to be summer's hottest ticket July 29 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Filling out the Slim Shady bill is 50 Cent, Lil Jon and the recently added Pitbull.

Breaking a sweat: Yogalachi. We agree it sounds like the latest coffee craze from Starbucks, but it's really the latest fitness sensation packing them in at the YMCA's downtown location. A mix of yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi, Yogalachi is this summer's trifecta of mind, body and muscle strengthening, reports Athena Martinez, the Y's health and fitness director. The 45-minute lunchtime workout, backed by the sounds of Moby is taught on Tuesdays by Victoria Rodriguez, who is wired with a microphone and walks among participants who are bending, stretching, balancing on one foot, getting them to break a sweat while exploring their inner buddhahood. The class was first offered in late April and has swelled in popularity, filling the group exercise studio to capacity.

Cocktail cool: Bartenders at Medusa Lounge & Art Parlor, (that opened in April on North Presa Street near the River Walk) agree their Cristini martini is all the rage, especially among "suburban ladies." Barkeep Zane Champion shares the recipe: Into a chilled martini glass, pour equal parts pineapple juice and vodka, 4 ounces of Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne, an ounce of Chambord, and drop in a cherry. The pick-me-up, cool-me-down libation goes for a pricey $22 a pop. Of course, if you prefer a glass (6 ounces) of Cristal it's yours for $32; a bottle of the bubbly begins at $210.

Catching the heat: Spurs souvenirs are still going strong at Academy sporting goods stores (where parking lots were the hot spots for post-game Spurs' victories this summer). But store director James Rodriguez says the hottest post-NBA championship must-haves have been the mini basketball ($9.87) ideal for getting autographed by your favorite Spurs player, a trio of championship title rubber wristbands ($6.27) and basketball shaped car magnets (also $6.27). But going, going, gone are the hottest of them all: Spurs championship hats, shot glasses and the special edition vintage-looking leather basketball.

Thriller reality show: The Michael Jackson trial. What else could possibly "Beat It"? Well, maybe a call to Super Nanny.

Red-hot celebs: Forget Bragelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) or Bennifer II (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner). The couple we can't get enough of (c'mon admit it) is TomKat. We know them as Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. But it's Cruise who has shamelessly entertained us this summer by jumping on Oprah's sofa (and later on Jay Leno's), gushing about his fiancée and telling the world about his Scientology philosophy. He also has had fierce words for aliens from another world and mommies (Brooke Shields) from this one.

Hot air: Forget rap and pop, rock and alternative, longtime radio guru Sonny Melendrez has single-handedly introduced teenagers to a new world of Old School music by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Andrew Sisters, Nat King Cole and more. On the air for only four months, KAHL (1310 on the AM dial) produces a mix of talk (leaning neither left nor right, conservative or liberal) and the songs of yesteryear that are connecting with younger listeners tuning in along with their grandparents. (Eliza Sonneland, Ron Thulin and Carl Wiglesworth round out the daily talk format that ends at 6 p.m. Then it's nothing but nostalgic tunes until the next day.) Boogie-woogie on.

Hot, haute headed: It would be a no-brainer to go with sunglasses (aviators, wraparounds, Jackie-Os and the bug-eyed alien look are always heat relief in-style specs). So instead we're going with the ubiquitous reinvented cowboy hat with its rolled-up straw brim and tattered look that has become a style sensation with superstar crooners like Kenney Chesney and rockers like Kid Rock. In S.A., trendy urbanites can't seem to get enough of the rough raffia look, in and out of the merciless heat.

Dance fever: Ballroom dancing fox-trotted to feverish new heights with summer's "Dancing With the Stars," a television program that taunted our interest in learning the rumba and the cha-cha and imagining ourselves in sequins and spandex. But San Antonio's Blue Bubble Ballroom at 9315 N. Broadway is the real deal with its monthly "Big Band Sunday Night" dances (every third Sunday) that feature local orchestras and "has been packing 'em in" since the show's airing, says Carole Van Buren, the dances' producer since 1996. "Things have definitely picked up," she says, adding she's up to a mailing list of 1,200 dancers. Hot on the craze's heels: Fox TV's "So You Think You Can Dance" that debuted July 20. In October comes TLC's "Ballroom Bootcamp," a reality series. And next year Antonio Banderas stars in "Take the Lead," the story of ballroom dancer Pierre Dulane.

Sing, sing a song: What's a summer to remember without a song you can't get out of your head? And we don't mean the usual rotations of "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama, "Summer Breeze" by Seals and Crofts, "Suddenly Last Summer" by The Motels or "Boys of Summer" by Don Henley — all great tunes to get you through a sweltering day. But our pick for the song of summer as well as one of the hottest on Billboard's chart goes to (drum roll, please) Gwen "put your pompoms down" Stefani and her "Hollaback Girl," a ditty about a cheerleader getting even with a dude who's been talking smack about her. Runners-up include: "Just A Lil Bit" from 50 Cent, and "Oh," from Ciara featuring Ludacris.

One ringy dingy: "Just A Lil Bit" by 50 Cent, is Billboard.com's hottest ring tone (No. 1 on its ring-tone chart). The performer also claims the No. 6 spot with "Candy Shop" featuring singer Olivia.

Hot, hot, hot topic: The heat, natch.

Source: San Antonio Express-News