Original 'Tempest in a Teapot' Art Concept.

Frankly, I think I made the right choice.  This one doesn't have the impact of the one I finally used.

Weather Report

It's damn hot.

If you want to know what the woman in this picture is doing, you'll have to visit Camera-Ephemera, my photography blog. Having shot nearly a thousand pictures at the Hooter's Pageant, I'll have lots of stuff to share over there.

..Coinky Dink?

We're told that Florida is in a severe drought, not six months after a prior two year drought had supposedly ended.

The Republicans maintain that there is no global warming.

With a continuing drought, water levels plummeting, and the planet heating up, it's possible that Earth could become a desert planet.

Like Tatooine.

Tatooine, a desert planet, is ruled by cruel and greedy Hutts.

And who, just by random happenstance, is revealed to be the actual leader of the Republican Party?

Coincidence? I don't think so.

It wasn't me, I swear!

The View on Wall Street

Received in email, I had to share:

Back in 1929, a lot of stock brokers jumped out of their office windows when they realized the extent of the losses of their firms and their clients. A lot of people pitied those poor stock brokers.



That was then, this is now:

Fort Lauderdale: Ersatz Air & Sea Show

Who needs the Air Force and Navy? There was plenty Air & Sea along Fort Lauderdale yesterday.

The New Key West

And it's so much closer...

...Speaking of "Toys for Boys."

House boat: check
14 foot whaler for excursions: check
10 foot zodiac for beach fun: check
Jetski to whip around the boats at the marina: check
Seaplane: check

Bicentennial Park: Restaurant

Probably the biggest surprise for me during my recent visit to Bicentennial Park was the discovery of a restaurant there. Well, concession stand. But a very large one.

It's closed, of course.

But here's the first image of it: the kitchen/service counter on the right, and the seating area just beyond the trees:

This is the concession stand; it's quite large, the service counter is about 20 feet long. Restrooms are included in this building (sealed now).

The underhang is now home to any number of the homeless. The restrooms sealed off, they've been relieving themselves in the recesses. Piles of their belongs are strewn underneath. I didn't take pictures of the service counters because I didn't want to incite the locals. You can see a man sleeping under the trees to the right of this photo; there were several more around.

The seating area:

The tables and chairs have been stripped; I don't know if the city did it, or if the homeless stripped them for firewood. This area used to have a roof over, but decay made it ripe for a hurricane to rip it down, and I've heard Wilma did just that.

Several men and a woman were drinking beer and grilling sausages. I don't know if they are homeless, but the grill setup looks like it's been there awhile. I don't know what this structure actually is; probably some sort of equipment bay.

The View:

This restaurant has an incredible view of the waterway; you can watch the cruise ships turn around and depart for the Caribbean, and there was a constant flow of boat traffic. And yet it's very quiet and peaceful. This should be a "best-kept secret" sort of place.

This restaurant was open when the park opened; there were very little interest in running it. When someone finally did agree to run it, they were murdered in front of a lunch crowd by a gang just a few weeks after opening.

Times have changed, and downtown is booming. I'd like to see the Park Department make a deal to re-open this restaurant; help a prospective tenant clean it out and set it up. I want to have breakfast in front of this view.

Not-So-Appropriate Public Art

I recently flew into Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a family reunion. (No, I'm NOT from Iowa. Don't ask.)

Everyone jokes about Iowa being one big cornfield, and the Cedar Rapids Iowa won't disabuse you of this notion; it's SURROUNDED by cornfields.


You can see the fields beyond the parking lot. But you can also see some sculptures that have been placed between the airport and the cornfields.

I suppose it's an attempt to show arriving passengers that Iowa isn't all corn and pig farmers, and that they have art, too.

And not just any art: MODERN art.





The problem is that the sculptures kind of look like the tails of airplanes.

That makes the message something like "WHEW! You had a better landing than THESE guys!"

I wonder if this one is called "Whoops!"

Museum Park

I recently did what very few people do these days: I visited Bicentennial Park. There's been a lot of heated discussion about carving out a section of the park and building museums on it. Those for moving the museums into the park argue that they will become a reason for going to the park, and they maintain that hardly any space is being lost.

I've pointed out that museums tend to grow; today they want to needlessly carve 8 acres out of the site instead of taking over some of the blighted lots in the city already designated to hold buildings. I can hear the arguments in 20 years or so: "But we're only talking another 6 acres."

I decided to visit the site, and see for myself what "just eight acres" looks like. I also overlayed the proposal in Google Earth. You can download it HERE. I'll be posting more shots of the park under commentary on Bicentennial Park, and still others on Camera-Ephemera, without commentary .

So here's the shots where Museum Park will be:

A shot of the entire museum site from the edge of Biscayne Bay. Everything in view here will be under the two museums. The trees across the meadow are along Biscayne Boulevard.

Half of this field falls in the museum zone, and everything beyond the far strip of pavement.

Everything beyond this hillside (and that strip of pavement) will be under museum.

Hazy day

This isn't mist or dew or fog: it's smoke from brush fires that are raging all across the state. It has smelled like a camping trip since last week.

At least it stopped "snowing:" ash was falling the first day, it looked just like snow flurries. Only it was 80 degrees farenheit.

Worst Self-Portrait Ever

Unclear On The Concept: Coconut Grove Parking

I saw this at the Arts Festival in Coconut Grove. This is what the Grove is all about. :-)

Unclear On The Concept: Sidewalk Improvements.

So, they've upgraded the sidwalks to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The curb now dips gently to the gutter.

And they say the county is wasting your tax dollars!

Unclear On The Concept: Coral Gables Parking

I finally figured out why the Gables has a parking problem.

A block up the street and you can't see the sign at all. You can't see it from across the street, either.

WAY TO GO, CORAL GABLES!

Carl and Andrea

Carl and Andrea. Waaaaaay late.

South Tyger Bridge

I saw this bridge as I was driving home from my sister's house over Christmas. The South Tyger River Bridge is a few miles to the southeast of Spartansburg, SC.

I almost drove right past until I realized there was a tree growing up out of the span.

With all the withered kudzu everywhere, the whole thing felt lifted out of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

It was cold, and I had a full day of driving (15hours!) so I only snapped off a few shots with my Nikon FM10. These were the shots that finally convinced me it was time to go digital. Not know ing how they came out gnawed at me for days. And frankly, I'm not really that pleased with the shots. With my D50, I'd've realized I didn't have the shot I wanted, and I could have tried some things. Plus, I wouldn't have had to spend a week figuring out how to burn the other 19 shots on the film.

Monarch of the Walk