Thursday End

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Your Evening Sift

It's Friday Eve, readers! I have a great evening Sift for you and some super events for the weekend in the Weekend Widget in the right sidebar. Have fun.

A- A possible irony in a recent deadly hit-and-run is uncovered by Random Pixels.

B- Eater Miami brings us up to date on the construction of Swine.

While the opening date remains undisclosed, the team behind Swine as well as its sister restaurant, Yardbird, says they are still on track to open sometime mid-February.

C- You know the weekend is close because South Florida Theatre Scene has previewed the weekend's theater in South Florida.

D- Quaterman's Ice Cream in downtown Miami is the shiznit, says Boy Writes Miami.

I walk past this place daily, and I saw its transformation from an empty storefront in a block where homeless people urinate, to a place that sells delicious ice cream in a block where homeless people urinate.

E- Burger Beast checks out the new El Corral and deems it "not Shake Shack."

F- What $24 million gets you in Fort Lauderdale these days is up at Curbed Miami.

G- South Florida Guy visits the famous mermaids at the Wreck Bar at the Sheraton Yankee Clipper on the Lauderdale Strip.

One little fun fact that most people don't know - Right after the swim show, the mermaids have a little Meet, Great, and sometimes Eat session with the fans. I went a couple of weeks ago and for the first time became part of the menu.

H- Long Play Miami informs us that there is a movie in the works about the "Miami Sound."

The odyssey he refers to is a film in production now for almost three years: Deep City, the Birth of the Miami Sound, inspired by the Numero compilation record. Scholl is co-producing the film along with local documentary filmmakers Marlon Johnson and Chad Tingle. Its their first long feature together. They have co-produced short films, two of which have won Emmys. But the Deep City documentary is a big story, says Scholl, speaking from his downtown office at the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation where he serves as Vice President of the Arts.

I- Another Carlos Miller reader verifies for the umpteenth time that 50 State security guards working Metrorail don't know about what can and can not be photographed.

J- Roy Black posts the 2nd part of The Business of Persuasion.

What does it take to inspire? Don’t we all aspire to this? For Obama it all started with his speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004. It catapulted him into the national spotlight, a seat in the Senate and ultimately the White House. All in all a pretty good result. It is his gift for oratory, combining style and substance, that turned a little known state senator from Illinois into a star. Even his most vocal critics admit he is one of the finest orators of the modern political era. This is not a political book but rather a “how does he do it” book. Let’s face it — a rational student of public speaking wouldn’t buy a “Say It Like Bush” book, but would instantly grab a “Say It Like Bill Clinton” one.

K- South Florida Classical Review shares February's classical calendar with us.




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SFDB's We Live Here

Miami Sunrise
lutherlemon Flickr





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SFDB Quote Of The Day

That someone can easily dispatch a roomful or two of elementary school children, or college students, or theater-goers, or restaurant-goers with these same weapons is not seen by these people as something that needs fixing—at all. Yes, it's sad that those particular people got murdered, but whether Americans have the God-given right to murder a large number of people quickly, and easily, if they feel the circumstances warrant it is something the tyranny fetishists will go to their graves, or your grave, or the local sheriff's grave believing in.

The other tricky part of this is that (of course) the people most obsessed with defending themselves against government "tyranny" are the people who see "tyranny" in absolutely everything. The United Nations is coming for them; Barack Obama is a crazy Marxist; bicycle paths are a sign of the devil. The most unhinged people among us are the people who have volunteered themselves as the judges, juries, and executioners of any American government figures they've decided they don't like—and those are the people that a large segment of our no-gun-regulations-ever crowd are catering to. Why? You could suppose the NRA, as obvious example, is merely acting as passthru for the manufacturer's lobby, which makes a very sizable income off of crazy frightened people, or you could suppose them to be unironic believers in the tyranny theory of American proto-terrorists someday becoming American freedom fighters—but why does the we'd like to maybe someday be able to kill members of the government theory get so much mainstream love from supposedly mainstream sources?

It seems rather obvious that we could take all the arguments as to why one might need a 30-round clip because of potential tyranny and just flush that entire population from legitimate discussion. If tyranny does come to America, your little closet stockpile is not going to do a damn bit of good against the Air Force, and basing all our public safety decisions around your own little delusion that it might, someday, is not a very good reason for our continued enabling of frequent, convenient mass murder. So that seems a good first step: If you're arguing that people need to be able to speedily murder other people because someday you and your little band of societal malcontents may want to murder the right people, the ones who really need murdering, all of the policymakers concerned with American public safety ought to write off your opinions on the matter from the outset. Then the rest of us can begin to have a discussion on guns in America that isn't objectively, you know, insane.

-Hunter, Daily Kos

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SFDB Not So Random Thought Of The Day

Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio has called for tighter border security as part of the immigration reform that he proposed recently.

President Barack Obama must be willing to accept border security measures as part of a comprehensive immigration reform package or else "there won't be a solution," Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a leader of the GOP reform effort, said on Tuesday.

[...]

The eight senators leading the effort agreed that a major immigration bill would require that the country's borders be "secured" before illegal immigrants already living in the country be offered a pathway to citizenship or permanent residency.

Okay, Marco. Secure our borders. 

No exceptions.

Right?



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SFDB Viral Video

Mercedes-Benz 2013 Super Bowl Commercial: "Soul"







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The Cooler

I have a short, but interesting, Cooler for you this morning.

A- Palm Beach Post: Life in South Florida.

An officer went to a home in the 1500 block of Henrietta Avenue to investigate a domestic disturbance. He encountered a woman standing on the corner, who said she and her boyfriend had gotten into an argument. She had told her boyfriend to buy some food for her, she said, and he returned with eggs and hot dogs. But he had not bought butter to cook the eggs. During the argument, her boyfriend placed her in a hold and she was unable to get out, she said. The officer spoke to the woman’s boyfriend, who said the woman was throwing his clothes around the room, then took a swing at him. She bit him and scratched him, he said. The officer observed a bite mark and several scratches on his arm. The woman was arrested and taken to the county jail.

B- South Florida Business Journal: Lawyers behaving badly.

Boca Raton attorney Scott Saidel, who formerly represented the wife of Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, pleaded guilty in Fort Lauderdale federal court Wednesday to conspiring with her and others to conceal assets purchased with dirty money from the Rothstein fraud.

C- CBS4: Huh?

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Police have fired officer Reyaldo Goyos, saying his actions were unjustified when he shot and killed a 28-year-old man two years ago.

At the same time, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office announced that it would not prosecute the seven-year veteran officer because it said the shooting was justified and said it could not prove that Goyos was not in fear for his life.

D- WSVN: Say it ain't so.

MIAMI (WSVN) -- The Miami Dolphins' quarterback legend has admitted to an extra-marital affair.

Dan Marino has also reportedly, fathered a child in the process of the extra-marital affair and he paid to keep it quiet.

New York Post writers broke the story and published it on their website overnight. They also included a photo of Marino's mistress and their daughter.

The former Miami Dolphin was allegedly involved with a woman named Donna Savattere. At the time, she was a co-worker at CBS Sports, where Marino works as an NFL analyst and she was a production assistant.

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Your Morning Sift

If you haven't done so already, check out the cool Google doodle that is up for baseball great Jackie Robinson's 94th birthday. I also have the SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar for you. Here's your morning Sift.

A- Obalesque explains how to keep public servants on the straight and narrow.

But leaving all that aside — which is the way of the world anyway — in purely practical terms, if you want your public officials to behave themselves, you need two components. The first is a solid set of clearly stated rules with an effective enforcement system. But no rules, and no threat of enforcement can be airtight. Smart-asses abound, ever notice? What truly needs to be drilled into people even before they plunge into the trough we call public service is not just some sense of right and wrong (as opposed to legal and illegal), but the promise of severe punishment for violating their oaths of service. The ethics instructions provides not only the rules, but the justification for the punishment.

B- Justice Building Blog explains why this is a significant day for Miami-Dade justice.

There really is no justice to ease the terror this poor girl went through in the final minutes of her life and there is nothing that can ever be done to ease the pain of her mother who knows all too well how her daughter was murdered. But today the world can stop thinking about her killer - because he is meaningless- and remember this young woman- because she is not.

C- Bark Bark Woof Woof has evidence that the NRA is slowly marginalizing themselves from the rest of America.

But this time seems to be different. The memories linger on, and for the first time in a very long time, the arc is bending towards the side of actually doing something. In watching the video clips of Mr. LaPierre trying to make his case, he sounded like he was the only one still holding out for doing nothing other than distract and blame someone else.

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SFDB Late Night Politics

Watch Jon Stewart disassemble supposed patriotic, freedom-loving Republicans and show us what they really are.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

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Your Evening Sift

It was unusually slow today in the South Florida blogosphere. Here's the highlights as I saw them. Enjoy your evening Sift, readers.

A- Eye on Miami smells something fishy with a Target land purchase in SW Miami-Dade.

With T Party politicians like Rick Scott and Pam Bondi as members of the Cabinet it looks bad for the environment. We don't know yet what Target is planning, it is just the stench of lobbyists in the air that has me worried this morning.

B- South Florida Classical Review likes this weekend's orchestral line up at the Arsht.

The Cleveland Orchestra, under music director Franz Welser-Möst, will perform Beethoven’s most serene piano concerto and Berlioz’s feverish portrayal of a lovesick artist’s opium dream Friday and Saturday at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, in the third installment of its four-program Miami season.

C- Random Pixels is glad that his blogging is being noticed.

But I'll relax that rule and say that if just one person sees that banner and then reads my post and it convinces them to call a cab after they've had too much to drink, then it will make what I do here worth the effort.

D- Political Cortadito gets tossed out of City Hall.

Earlier, after I had arrived, I heard someone rush into the office of Castro lackey Arnie Alonso and announce that “that blogger” was there.

E- Shorter Gun Free Zone...

The NRA's struggle against gun safety measures is like the Jews fighting Hitler.

F- Curbed Miami reports that half the Design District has been bulldozed.




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SFDB Cool Of The Day

Manufacturing a Dodge Viper...








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Rubio Votes Against Helping Americans In Need Again

Senator Marco Rubio continued to show his striking lack of compassion for Americans affected by Hurricane Sandy by joining 35 Republican Senators who, on Monday night, voted against aid for those who are suffering because of the storm. The assistance package passed without their help.

Rubio's insistence on placing politics before his country is particularly disgusting when you consider Florida's vulnerability to tropical storms and our dependency on similar aid in times of trouble.

Whether Floridians and, really, the entire nation will remember these votes during future elections is anyone's guess as is whether The Miami Herald's crack political writers will ever notice and get around to writing about it.




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2012 SFDB Post Of The Year

   "A Tour Of The Gusman/Olympia Theater"
Critical Miami


13 of 17 SFDB Editors voted by the deadline and, as you can see from the graphic below, the votes were spread out fairly evenly.

Yes, it was a very close and narrow victory for Critical Miami. Seems to me to be a testament to the amount of quality posts in 2012.

Here are some comments that a few Editors shared...

Ipanemic:

Critical Miami's look at the Olympia/Gusman Theater. One of the most beautiful treasures in all of South Florida, detailed marvelously in words and pictures by Alesh.

Bark Bark Woof Woof:

I went with Scott’s “Good Things, Good Things.” It really touched me, and still does.

South Florida Food and Wine:

I was rapt with emotion as Scott peeled the onion slowly and deliberately, in his final Ipanemic.com post, Good Things, Good Things. I was mesmerized 10 months ago reading it for the first time and equally so 10 months later reading his story once again.

Critical Miami's award will join previous years winners at the bottom of the right sidebar.

The entire field of 2012 Nominees can be viewed here.

There will be some changes coming for the weekly, monthly and annual post recognition. Stay tuned for further developments.

Here's to another great year in 2013.







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SFDB Wednesday Morning Start

Zion National Park

[via]



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The Cooler

Let's check out what caught my attention in this morning's news feeds.

A- Palm Beach Post: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

After listening to Sen. Marco Rubio talk with Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday, it appears that the immigration issue in America may be getting beyond whether a second border fence should be 10 feet tall or 20 feet tall.

Apparently, the “conservative principles” that Rubio kept talking about with Limbaugh now include the much-belated recognition that America must acknowledge the presence of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who have been living in this country. And more importantly, America must work out some pathway for them to citizenship.

Yes, the “A” word is being deported.

Rubio now simply refers to this as “the way forward.”

Come to think of it, wasn’t “Forward” Obama’s campaign slogan?

B- South Florida Business Journal: Bad connection.

Miami International Airport ranked sixth in a survey that asked travel experts to name the worst U.S. airport for connecting flights.

The survey by Travel Leaders Group polled its owners, managers and agents and asked, "If your clients are flying and need to connect through a hub airport, which hub do they try to avoid?" Nearly 12 percent of those polled voted for MIA.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, New York's LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport were ahead in the polls for worst connecting hub.

C- CBS4: Just consider it an early wake up call.

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The Broward County Public School District has issued an apology to tens of thousands of people who received sleep disturbing, after hours robo calls late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

D- WSVN: Where is Coconut Grove Grapevine when you need him?

COCONUT GROVE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A new trolley parking garage in a South Florida community is under construction, but some say the project is already off track.

Residents in Coconut Grove fear the impact the garage will have on their neighborhood, even though the trolley will not serve any of that city's residents. The construction located in the heart of West Coconut Grove has created quite the controversy.

The building is slated for completion in 2014 and will house the trolleys used in Coral Gables. "It is a disgrace," said Cheryl Jackson. "We don't need this here."

The current trolley garage in Coral Gables on LeJeune is being replaced by condominiums. The developer made a deal with the City of Coral Gables that they would build the new garage on land they had in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood. "Nobody from the City of Coral Gables, not the commissioner, not the mayor asked the residents how they felt about it," said Jackson. "They just built it."

The people who have been living in the area for more than two decades call it a disgrace that big business and big politics have steamrolled the voice of residents. They said they were never consulted.

E- WPTV: Cycling in South Florida.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - An avid cyclist is battling back from a broken collar bone and a collapsed lung. James Miller went home from Bethesda Hospital East Tuesday, two days after being hit and thrown from his bike in a hit and run.

A 75 mile bike ride on A1A took took a bad turn Sunday as Miller was riding through Gulf Stream. Miller remembers seeing a black SUV pulling a trailer coming up beside him.

"Ironically enough there were mountain bikes sticking out from the trailer and one of the handle bars from a bike hit me in the back and shot me off my bike," says Miller.

He laid there until paramedics arrived, his fellow riders tried to stop the driver.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning. Shhhh. It's very quiet in the SoFla blogosphere. Here's your morning Sift.

A- Go Hydrology! posts a graph that shows you just how much rain we've received since November 1st.

B- Bark Bark Woof Woof tells us about the classy gun advocate crowd.



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Your Evening Sift

Winding down the day here at SFDB HQ. Let's take a look at what was posted in the South Florida blogosphere today with your evening Sift.

A- Discourse presents evidence of weak Democrats in the Sunshine State.

B- Arterpillar links to her Q&A with local South Florida artist Martin Casuso.

Martin Casuso, a Miami Beach artist who spent around 15 years working in the antique business, says his appreciation of objects and their untold tales began as a child when he and his brother would go to the seawall in their Coconut Grove neighborhood and build forts from treasures they found there.

C- Sweat Records reminds us that applications can be submitted for the 2013 Knights Arts Challenge starting next week.

D- Culture Designers brings us up to date with what gallerist Anthony Spinello has been up to lately.

For Spinello though, making a name for art is simply part of the game. And if the play calls for crossing causeways or oceans or time zones, well, that’s just all in a game’s win. Something to seriously consider the next time someone suggests coloring within the given lines.

E- South Florida Food and Wine goes to dinner at Villa Azur.

The self-described menu is French Mediterranean with an Italian twist. The raw bar/shellfish selection is quite amorous to the senses.

F- Wow. Take a look at these vegan dishes sent in by Foodalogue's readers.

G- Gun Free Zone has a testosterone-filled video for those who own guns and who are a quart or two low.

H- Serious sand castling on Miami Beach...at SeanWasHere.

I- Part 3 of Fatgirl Hedonist's romp through DC is up.

This is my third post on my trip to Washington DC in which I'll cover my near Nirvana experience at Bete Ethiopian Cuisine. I promise the DC posts will end SOON! Since Sheba (Miami's only Ethiopian restaurant) closed its doors, I've been craving some good Ethiopian finger food. Now. I had been to Das Ethiopian in 2011 and thought it was aight, but I was told by several Washingtonians that the best Ethiopian food isn't even in DC, it's in Silver Springs MD.

J- Cool sidewalks are being planned in Wynwood says Curbed Miami.

K- Oh my. Soul of Miami shares a huge collection of images from last weekend's 7th Annual International Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Gardens.

The event was packed with smiling faces and kids running around the park on glorious chocolate sugar rushes. The setting was stunning, the free beers superb, the chocolate exquisite and the vibe of the event sweeter than decadent Swiss chocolate.

L- The Reid Report lists 4 things that will guarantee that the Republican Party remains the minority party for the foreseeable future.

2. Guns are now just like tobacco. Being obsessed with loving them makes you a throwback, and unless you’re Jason Statham or Tom Cruise toting a bunch of them in a movie, or a character in a video game, people will look at you sideways. In other words, Dems have won this aspect of the culture war, too. So even if elected Democrats fail to get the Feinstein bill through, they’ll still win the issue.

M- The Cuban Triangle has a CNN video clip of a Major League Baseball player who returns to his home in Cuba, thanks to the lifting of the travel restrictions.


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SFDB Cool Of The Day

[via]



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Helado Negro: Dance Ghost

Courtesy of Sweat Records...

”Dance Ghost” is the new single by South Florida-born, Brooklyn-based artist Helado Negro. It was shot entirely in Miami and we’re sure you’ll recognize a lot of the locations...

Helado Negro




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Our NRA World: A Continuing Series

Warning: NSFW, language.



And there's also this...

MYAKKA CITY, Fla. - Authorities in Manatee County say no charges will be filed against a woman who accidentally shot her fiancé in the leg at a gun range.

The couple was with a large group shooting at Manatee Gun and Archery Club in Myakka City on Saturday afternoon.

The sheriff's office report said a casing flew from the woman's gun and landed inside her blouse, causing her to flinch. She bent over to get the casing out of her blouse when the gun accidentally fired.

The bullet hit the man in his right thigh, passing through his leg.

He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

These are the same folks who supposedly stand ready to engage body armor clad gun appreciators armed with AK's and AR's and hundreds of rounds of ammo as they stride through smoky, dark theaters firing at will.

I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Duck!"


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SFDB Tuesday Morning Kickstart

Apparently, Australia gets storms that create lots of sea foam...






[via]




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The Cooler

Here's what I found interesting in this morning's news.

A- TC Palm: Urban gardening in Stuart.

STUART — Stuart residents won't be raising chickens or feeling like one behind the wheel under a couple of proposals the City Commission discussed at its meeting Monday evening.

[...]

While they won't be raising chickens, residents likely will be growing more fruits and vegetables under the new urban-farming ordinance. It allows community gardening in most areas, including vacant lots, group homes and parks. Enthusiasm for collective gardens sprouted from the highly successful Stuart Community Garden, established last year in East Stuart.

B- TC Palm: $760 for a pair of shoes?

PORT ST. LUCIE — An 18-year-old man and four younger teens were arrested Friday in connection with an elaborate heist in which another teen was robbed of his $760 Nike Foamposite shoes, according to records obtained Monday and a police spokesman.

A 16-year-old boy identified as the victim told Port St. Lucie police he went to the Southwest Oxford Terrace home of another juvenile after school.

The victim said once he got there, a 17-year-old boy came in the garage and hit him in the head and chest. The teen assailant, according to the victim, said he had a gun and demanded his $760 Nike Foamposite shoes. The teen assailant knocked him to the ground, stole his footwear and ran.

C- CBS4: The latest on the shooting involving Rick Ross on Las Olas.

D- CBS4: Life in South Florida.

CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald is reporting that her father, 78-year-old Bartolo Gelsomino, became angry when his 70-year-old wife Ana Gelsomino refused to cook him a hamburger and then stabbed her to death and covered up the crime by staging a burglary to their home.

E- WPLG: Karma.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A man who was trying to get away from police after robbing an elderly woman Monday afternoon died after he crashed his car into a minivan, police said.

According to investigators, the suspect robbed the woman of her purse in the 600 block of 17th Avenue.

F- WSVN: Video, Lambos on MIA's runways.



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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

There wasn't a whole heck of a lot happening in the South Florida blogosphere last night, folks. Here's an abbreviated morning Sift for this Tuesday morning.

A- Pet photography at Hello, I'm Scott.

B- Obalesque considers the upcoming Super Bowl festivities.

C- Bark Bark Woof Woof is not very confident that a recently proposed bipartisan proposal on immigration has much of a chance with the rest of Congress.

The only reason this is getting any kind of life now is because some of the more “moderate” Republicans are concluding that alienating, so to speak, a huge demographic such as Latinos is not the way to win an election without cheating. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is trying to make this his signature issue (ironic given his own experience with immigration recollection). But as long as there’s a buck to be fund-raised over the fear of “illegals,” it’s going to be a tough run.

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Your Evening Sift

It's a Sift like this one that makes doing this all worth while. Be happy you stayed up and enjoy your Sift.

A- Nikon Miami is out in God's Country snapping photos and I couldn't be happier.

B- Food for Thought provides his thoughts regarding the recent discussions on food photography and takes the opportunity to plug a camera he's been testing out.

People taking pictures in restaurants isn't anything new. Chefs and other diners being annoyed by people taking pictures in restaurants also isn't anything new. And while I can empathize with the sentiment, there are any number of other restaurant behaviors I find equally if not more annoying: loud cell-phone talking, sloppy drunkenness, heavy petting, lousy tipping.

C- Arterpillar shares some photos from this past weekend's Revel on the Block in Fort Lauderdale.

D- Something called Spaghetto is opening restaurants all around South Florida, according to Eater Miami.

"We believe we have developed a very unique concept: a casual pasta restaurant where you can eat the highest quality pasta at a very affordable price; baked by a real Italian fresh pasta production," says the owner.

E- It's Whale Week at Curbed Miami, if you're interested.

Announcing the beginning of Curbed's inaugural Whale Week, a five-day tribute (ogle-fest, mockery, roasting, whatever) to the "whales"—in other words the high rollers and big spenders, to use popular Vegas slang—of Miami.

F- Gun Free Zone apparently didn't get the memo that when a white Tea Party gun nut uses the N-word, it isn't funny no matter how he intends it.

G- The Chowfather highlights some low-profile restaurants that are worth visiting in the South Florida area.

I wanted to take the time to share a few spots around town that that for some reason or other continue to fly under the food radar despite serving good to great food. All of these spots are reasonably priced and worth driving for.

H- Eye on Miami gets their licks in on the Herald.

I- The Miami Heat went to the White House today and The305.Com has the video.

J- Salty Eggs is stellar in their analysis of how Carlos Alvarez, Body Builder, is a metaphor for Miami.

There has not been a better representation of this city’s perpetual machismo peacock complex since Tony Montana met his doom in a coked-up blaze of inglorious egocentricity and perverse grandiosity. And as the “Carlos Alvarez: Body Builder” meme regurgitates its way around the internet, I wonder if Dade County itself looks proportionally ridiculous. Again.

The perpetual lust for notoriety overlaps with Miami’s self-obsession, most commonly expressed in an omnipresent skittish neurosis that demands constant affirmation that Our Towne stacks up to its peer metropolises around the country.

Miami’s obsession with itself stems from its isolation. It comes into play at every juncture: People come here for vacation, to get away, to smuggle drugs, to get off drugs, to seek political asylum, to die, and so on. The place we call “Here” is known all over the world as “There.” Its somewhere else. If you keep something in isolation long enough, its behavior will become increasingly idiosyncratic, its bronzed muscles flexing for anyone who will look. Desperation will be all people see, but at least they’re looking, right?

K- Miami Bike Scene tee shirts!

L- Powerful post from Random Pixels tonight that addresses a recent hit-and-run accident.



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SFDB Cool Of The Day

[via]



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SFDB Post Of The Week

Every week presents an interesting mix of blog posts to be considered for the Post of the Week. This week was no exception as I considered food, political, and personal posts before coming up with the following selections.

Runners-Up: Although I'm not positive he would ever admit to it, I'm pretty sure The Chowfather labored all night to get this post documenting the latest Cobaya dining experiment to press the morning after the unusually exotic dinner took place.  Continuing with the food theme, Food for Thought did his usual thorough job reviewing a ramen noodle restaurant in the Brickell area of town.  Bark Bark Woof Woof's personal thoughts on Martin Luther King Day and King's influence on him were well worth the read and the reflection.


Winner:  Carlos Miller continues to test the system and The Man with his latest confrontation with 50 State Security personnel at a Miami Metrorail station. Whether you're on board with his tactics or not, the video and drama are definitely worth the price of admission as Carlos gets put in a headlock and is taken down by the security guards. Carlos follows that piece of cinema up with another clip of him at home with a ripped up shirt and an explanation. "I Was Attacked by Miami-Dade Metrorail Security Guards For Taking Photos and Shooting Video" is not only one of the longest titled posts of the year, but it's one of the most thrilling and that, readers, is definitely worth the SFDB Post of the Week recognition.


The 2012 SFDB Post of the Year will be announced later this week. Stay tuned.

'Til next time, keep on blogging!



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Fort Lauderdale Low Rider Rat Rod

I saw this guy driving south on U.S. 1 in Dania Beach on Saturday afternoon and couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Lawn chairs provide seating...

That tube running through the car supposedly contains the crankshaft.

Apparently this thing has been around a while. Check out this 2010 video of a night ride down I-95...sparks are included.




More on this amazing vehicle at the two links below.




[Reddit]
[Website]



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SFDB Monday Morning Kickstart

This seems about right for a Monday...






[via the Internets]



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The Cooler

Let's check out what's going on in the South Florida mainstream media this morning.

A- Palm Beach Post: It's called "hoping to buy votes."

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott said he plans to “double-down” on the state’s investment in education — proposing teacher pay hikes as a central part of the 2013 budget he intends to roll out this week.

But with the spending proposal, the Republican governor’s biggest bet may be on a strategy of moving toward the political middle, one that could help his re-election bid next year. Distancing himself from the combative stance that marked his earlier days as governor, Scott’s third budget blueprint will likely reflect an evolving – some say desperate – chief executive, intent on reaching out to old enemies even if it antagonizes his tea party allies.

B- South Florida Business Journal: In case you missed the first season.

The Travel Channel announced Friday that it will pick up Airport 24/7: Miami for a second season. The series features nine employees of the airport whose jobs consist of keeping one of the nation's largest airports running around the clock.

C- CBS4: Video, Miami Marathon.

D- NBC Miami: The ever convenient "I thought he was going for a gun."

Carrazana and Gonzalez got into an argument with Mobley's group inside the Chili's on NW 57th Avenue near the Palmetto Expressway, according to authorities. The exchange was over women.

The dispute spilled outside, punches were thrown, and Mobley said he fired several times, hitting Carrazana and Gonzalez.

"There was so much blood I freaked," Mobley said while testifying Friday afternoon.

Mobley said he thought one of the other men was pulling a gun out from under his shirt, so he fired first.

E- WSVN: Video, car stolen from outside of house.



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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

And off we go with another week. Welcome to Monday, readers. Here's your morning Sift.

A- Fatgirl Hedonist presents Part Two of review of restaurants she visited while traveling in Washington, DC.

Lots (and I mean LOTS) of people in Miami tried to tell me where I NEED to eat in DC but the truth is, nobody knows where to eat like a local. So every chance I had, I asked DC residents what their favorite restaurants were. Three different people in three different parts of town mentioned Oohhs & Aahhs as their favorite soul food restaurant. I wanted those little unknown places, those places off the beaten path, not those celebrity chef places everyone goes to just because.

B- The craziness that abounds when Republicans are allowed to proliferate is quite evident at Bark Bark Woof Woof.

C- Eye on Miami knows who the real Manny Diaz is while he contemplates a run at Florida's governor.

Like many other politicians of the 2000's, Diaz coasted on the fuel then the fumes of the building boom. He was like a Marlin's hitter who raced to third base, celebrating a triple when he hit a pop fly. To the extent that the city of Miami contributed to massive -- multi-billion dollar! -- infrastructure deficits that are now plaguing the county, Diaz was right in the middle of the mess. Taxpayers and voters will have something to say about a Diaz primary campaign.

D- Obalesque thinks that changing Broward County's name to Lauderdale County is as stupid as certain newspaper types who think it's actually a wonderful idea.

E- The Chowfather gives us the 411 on Macchialina Taverna Rustica on Miami Beach.

Chef Pirolo's food registered with me in a big time way. And that's because he's serving Italian "soul" food. But don't confuse that with comfort food. That would be a lazy disservice to the talented chef. Chef Pirolo has successfully put a gourmet spin on rustic dishes without sacrificing its soul. This skillful balancing act is not an easy thing to do. But he clearly knows his way around classic Italian flavors and ingredients and that permeates through each bite of every dish.

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Sunday End

[via]



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Your Evening Sift

Mourn the end of a great weekend by reading your Sunday evening Sift. Enjoy.

A- Eye on Miami reprints a comment left on their blog by a fellow blogger that they thought was particularly inspirational for South Florida political bloggers.

B- What famous writer do you write like...at Bark Bark Woof Woof.

C- Nice sunset photo by Go Hydrology!

D- There's an epic number of Miami Marathon photos up at Belle Isle Blog.

E- Zowie! Take a look at this masterful paragraph at South Florida Classical Review.

But he tossed off the angular, rapid double stops at the opening of the second movement with appropriately harsh sinew and captured the soaring pathos of the concerto’s elegiac conclusion. Tilson Thomas’s masterful conducting commanded intensity while giving full measure to the music’s lush, sensuous textures. Whether in angular, violent ensemble outbursts or the silken string tones of the score’s final pages, the orchestra was in superb form, playing with tonal sheen and incisive attacks.

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Another Casualty In The Fight Against Tyranny

Here's a copy of the criminal complaint filed last week in federal court in Colorado against a guy named Richard Sandberg. Sandberg tried selling some improvised explosive devices to an undercover federal agent, according to the complaint.

 Sanberg

Of particular interest is paragraph 12:

Sandberg claimed a right wing declaration of independence/constitutionalist political manifesto and made disparaging remarks about the current administration and them wanting to take away his guns. Sanberg made numerous threatening statements toward law enforcement (LE) and specifically ATF, stating if any LE or ATF came inside his house, to take his guns, it would be a bad day for them and lots of them would die. Sandberg stated that he was ready and willing to die.

Such a patriot!

Ted Nugent and Wayne LaPierre probably love his devotion to the 2nd Amendment.

And there was this nugget in the local news...

A “Fire Obama” sign is posted in a second floor window of Sandberg’s home, and a red U.S. Marines flag was posted in the front yard, but was removed during the investigation.

I'm sure Sandberg hates watching Fox News and totally disagreed with Romney on the 47% thing, too.

I can read these guys like a book.




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Ultra Miami 2013

The city looks pretty good...






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Sunday Start

Acadia National Park, Maine

[via]





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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

The weekend mode continues in the South Florida blogosphere so there isn't a whole lot out there. Enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Go Hydrology! has some fun with a Florida West Coast sunset.

B- Hello, I'm Scott is moving forward, starting fresh and is not a ne’er-do-well.

Back to the topic at hand, though. I really don’t believe nor have I ever believed that I’m a ne’er-do-well. I think I’m more of a sometimes-do-well. And with a great deal of modesty, I’ll even venture to say that I’m sometimes a sometimes-do-very-well. Though I do meander. I do wander into things, look at the pretty objects set all about for a bit and then kind of float away to somewhere else, forgetting all about what I was doing there in the first place.

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SFDB Saturday Night Turndown Service

Radiohead, There, There





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Your Evening Sift

It was a splendid Saturday for being outside, no? Enjoy your evening Sift, readers.

A- Burgers by the Beach checks out the new BurgerFi "on the Westbound side of Sunrise Blvd...right near the beach" and finds that it's a lot like the other BurgerFis.

B- Burger Beast says that Kendall's Rock That Burger rocks.

The K-Queen is a Chicken Sandwich but with Buffalo Chicken Cold Cuts instead of the usual slab of Chicken. It’s topped with Mozzarella Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, Garlic Mayo, & Pesto Sauce. Whoever came out up with this combination of flavors deserves a day named after them.

C- Critiquing the Miami Herald is quite the sport these days and Obalesque joins in and adds a jab at Republicans.

D- Gun Free Zone could be a lawyer if he wasn't a blogger...at least he thinks so.

E- Foodalogue shows off some of her photo skillz.

As some of you may have gathered, I’ve been trying to spend a little more time behind the lens instead of in front of the stove these days.

F- The Chowfather is first with a wrap-up of last night's, umm, interesting Cobaya dinner at Khong River House.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Once upstairs and with a welcoming cocktail in hand, we were treated to bowls of spicy silkworm larvae. Yes, I ate some and actually enjoyed the seasoning and texture.

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"They're Taking Away Our Guns!"

Jim Morin, Miami Herald

"They're taking away our guns!"

No, they want background checks on ALL gun sales.

"They're taking away our guns!"

No, they want to reinstate the expired assault rifle ban that enjoyed the support of Republicans.

"They're taking away our guns!"

No, they want a limit on magazine size.

"They're taking away our guns!"

No, they want to make it a crime to possess armor-piercing bullets.

"They're taking away our guns!"

No, just like prohibiting the sale of grenade launchers doesn't mean you can't own a gun, restricting the sale of assault rifles doesn't mean you can't own a firearm.


The NRA and its most radicalized followers love to make commonsense gun safety measures a threat to the 2nd Amendment because everyone knows that first it's magazines and then it's jack-booted thugs dressed in black showing up at your house asking for your S&W .357 snubnose. It's the way it's always worked in this country, right?

Well, no, but that's because we've never had a Kenyan Muslim Socialist in the Black White House and, you know, there's Bill Ayers, too.

The only thing sadder than these hysterical gunpowder sniffers is their self identification to America's revolutionary patriots who were actually fighting for freedom and liberty instead of the "right" to carry so-called cop killer ammunition and high capacity magazines.

Those guys would have a good laugh at these clowns.



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The NRA's Favorite Assault Weapon

[via Media Matters for America]

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Recipe Blogging

Apparently recipe blogging is the new rage in the blogosphere, according to this article out of Vermont...

From the relative quiet of just five years ago, tens of thousands of food blogs now exist worldwide. Foodies can’t go a day on the internet without encountering food-porn photos of, say, French onion soup, shrimp kiri kiri or kibbeh nayeh — all recent entries on foodspotting.com.

While the days when blogging seemed like a route to a book contract may be over, thousands more foodies still throw their pots in the ring every year. Vermonters are not immune. But the local bloggers we spoke to — including one prominent food-blog aggregator — come across as savvy in their approach to the rapidly changing online-media world. They emphasize the importance of finding a niche — often involving Vermont’s terroir and healthy lifestyles — using social media, and complementing recipes with other content.

I haven't seen any surge of recipe blogs in South Florida so I'm really not that familiar with them. But after reading this article, they don't seem to be that different from regular blogs.

Bloggers also have to be vigilant for copycats. “There’s been a lot more plagiarism, not only of media and pictures, but of whole blog posts,” Campus explains. “Hundreds of blogs out there are stealing recipes, which is really odd and annoying. Once you realize someone has stolen your content, you have to go through a rigorous process to shut [down] that blog. It’s very time consuming,” Campus adds.

While none of the Vermont bloggers who spoke to Seven Days got into the practice for financial gain, Campus suggests that a “lot of people” haven’t heeded the warnings of experts such as Hesser. “I think that’s probably not the wisest,” she says of foodies who put themselves online with dreams of quitting their day jobs. With such an oversaturated market, “it’s hard to earn a living as a blogger, unless you’re really good.”

We'll be on the lookout for this kind of blogging in the South Florida blogosphere although I doubt I will want to include them in the SFDB blogroll.



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Saturday Start

Sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park

[via]




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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Up and at 'em. It's Saturday morning, readers. Let's check out what was going on in the South Florida blogosphere while you snoozed. Enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Go Hydrology! has your South Florida Moment of the Day.

B- One half of Eye on Miami is traveling in India and today compares that country's politics to Miami's.

Of local municipal politicians, our guide muttered, 'They don't do anything. Often, title to land outside the town is simply changed so that it is in their own name. Then they try to bring water and electricity and roads to the land they suddenly own.' Oh. So Miami, but our version doesn't switch titles to their own names in the dead of night. Big campaign contributors tied to the Growth Machine figure out ways to make elected officials work.

C- Gun Free Zone shows us how gun owners in New York are interpreting new state laws requiring them to register certain weapons as an example of taking away their guns and violating their 2nd Amendment rights. And, of course, GFZ presents it in a way to imply that gun owners are ready to go to war over it...because, you know, that's what Ted Nugent says.




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Your Evening Sift

It's the weekend, folks. Check out the SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar and enjoy your evening Sift. I got some grilling to finish up. I'm out.

A- Belle Isle Blog files an in-depth report from a neighborhood hearing addressing plans for an expansion of The Standard hotel.

But residents — especially those on Farrey Lane — were not pleased. They said the new garage will tower over their small homes, and change their quality of life.

Frank Scottoline said he now looks out from his kitchen to trees and blue skies. If the garage is built, he said, all he will see is a big wall.

B- What will you be getting in your CSA Share Week 9? The answer at Redland Rambles.

C- Because I know I have a couple of DC readers in my audience, I'm going to include a link to the first installment of Fatgirl Hedonist's recent romp through the nation's capital.

As you can imagine, I ate A LOT on my recent trip to DC. I could sit here and write a book on all the places I checked out, but instead I'm just going to cover the highlights of my trip and maybe a couple of low-lights. That still narrows it down to seven restaurants, so preparate. I'm breaking it up into two (maybe 3) posts; I'll try to keep it sweet and to the point.

D- Carlos Miller lashes out at critics of his latest physical encounter with security guards and explains himself.

It’s been five days since I was attacked by three armed security guards on the Miami-Dade Metrorail for taking pictures and the reactions from around the internet has been interesting to say the least.

I understand there will always be boot-licking pansies who will never understand why I would question a security guard over some made-up law about not being allowed to photograph the rails.

But it’s a little disappointing to see this attitude from photographers and railfans.

E- Florida Keys Girl tells us about the recent Key West Food and Wine Festival which was, curiously, without food and wine in some spots.

The next two stops on the stroll were less successful, with nine one five being completely out of food (they were serving Dungeness crab wrapped in tuna sashimi), but at least they had wine. Blackfin Bistro, normally one of my go-to places, were completely out of both the conch cake they were serving, as well as the Cubanissimo pinot noir (I was far more disappointed in the lack of wine, I must say).

F- Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds shares some supposed remedies for when you're not feeling well.

Stick a Heating Pad in Your Bed - Under you, on your stomach, whatever. It feels nice when you don't. I like to rest my head on the heating pad when I get bad headaches and it really helps. Just don't fall asleep and burn your face and then blame me.

G- Shorter Gun Free Zone...

I'm terribly impressed by form letters that Republican politicians send me.

H- The Cuban Triangle conducts a discussion on some of the politics currently in play on the Cuban Adjustment Act and the statements originating from a couple hardliner congressional representatives.

The idea that Cubans admitted under the Cuban Adjustment Act “affirm that one would be persecuted for political reasons in Cuba” or “come to this country seeking exile” (whatever that means) is simply false.

Rubio and Ros-Lehtinen are accusing their constituents of being hypocrites, based on a claim that these immigrants have never made.

I- Republicans are planning to steal elections and Bark Bark Woof Woof has a post that that all Americans need to read.

What further proof do you need that there are people in that party who will do anything — anything — to win and then serve up a lecture of pious patriotism about how anyone who questions the true destiny of America at the hands of the only party that really cares about freedom and liberty is a terrorist or something.

J- There's a burgeoning mini-market scene in South Florida that Salty Eggs has more info about this evening.

At least three organizations are making a go of hosting regular places for local independent fashion designers, dealers, craftspeople, and other artisans to set up shop, either temporarily or more permanently...

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Flashback Friday

1978...




Warren Zevon, Lawyers, Guns, and Money




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SFDB Quote Of The Day

This is, at its core, the gun nuts’ central tenet. Not that governments generically shouldn’t be trusted. But that our government in particular is evil and must be stopped at all costs. It’s philosophical terrorism that far too often leads to the real thing, whether it’s a shot-up movie theater by a guy dressed like Rambo, or a blown up federal building. It far too often comes down to the individual in question thinking they are the last defense against tyranny.

The problem we face as a nation is that the men who control today’s Republican party neither trust, nor particularly like, most of America, or Americans. If you truly see a commie and a Nazi around every corner, then you’re obviously not very thrilled with where you live.

The Republicans don’t have a problem with Obama, they have a problem with America.


-John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

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Blogging For Dollars At The Grapevine

So after being on hiatus for 3 months, Coconut Grove Grapevine announced on Wednesday that he was returning but there was going to be some changes.

I will charge to have an event or story posted here. There are thousands of people coming here daily to read that stuff. It's a commodity. I am going to capitalize on it, why? Because it's the American way, besides, I need to pay my bills.

I'll work up a payment structure and charge for various things like flyers, press releases, even charge a premium if you actually want my presence and me to physically cover the event. I have my stories now in the Huffington Post, The Miami Herald, The Examiner, various comic strip blogs (I still am doing Tomversation, my comic strip) and I'll share stories with those publications, too.

I'll let you know what's up as soon as I figure it out. But I will require payment in advance, through Paypal or credit card and I will charge for coverage of everything, I think after eight years of doing this as a hobby, which benefited every single person and business in Coconut Grove, it is now my time to benefit.

The Grapevine elaborated a little more on this new business model on Thursday...

This is the place to share your store opening news or bar crawl news. It's the place to share your last party pictures and things like that. The Herald and other publications pick up my feeds, so you may be seen in more than just this page of the Grapevine, but either way, if you want your event, party, business to be noticed. This is the place now.

[...]

I am running the Grapevine as a business now, after eight years of being a community service, it's time to make a living at it. Event organizers, please be sure to add the Grapevine into your marketing plans, you'll need to send us content and photos, after all, if it's in the Grapevine it is so. You want to make your event "so."

I think I would call that "blogvertising."

Okay, being paid for mentioning a restaurant, product or event is not exactly unheard of in the blogging world and really isn't considered that unusual as long as there's full disclosure, but it sounds like that's all Coconut Grove Grapevine is going to be from this point on.  Which really makes me ask myself if what Coconut Grove Grapevine is doing can even be considered "blogging" any more.

That's an easy one: No.

As a result, Coconut Grove Grapevine won't be returning to the SFDB blogroll. We wish it well.


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Friday Start

Breathe.....

[via]



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The Cooler

Here's your daily dose of interesting news stories. Enjoy your Cooler.

A- TC Palm: Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste.

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An intoxicated man who said he woke up Thursday unexpectedly in a neighbor's living room woke up Friday at the Indian River County Jail, according to his arrest affidavit.

A Countryside Mobile Home Park resident told the Indian River County Sheriff's Office she found Ronald Christopher Reich, 67, who also lives in the community, sitting in her recliner about 4:30 p.m. The woman, who lives in the 8700 block of South Sandpiper Drive, said she woke up from a nap when she discovered Reich, who took off his shirt and said he had been waiting for her, according to the affidavit.

B- CBS4: Life in South Florida.

Miami Police say the woman, identified by family as Evelyn Matamoro, left a restaurant near the intersection of Northwest 7th Avenue and Northwest 53rd Street at around 5:30 p.m. when a man with a gun approached her and told her to give him her purse.

Matamoro, in fear for her life, handed over her belongings but the thief fired anyway, hitting her in the face.

C- CBS4: Video, SmartWater fighting crime.

D- NBC Miami: Wrong place, wrong time.

Miami Gardens Police said they’re investigating a random shooting of a male victim on a bus stop bench Thursday night.

The victim was sitting on a bench at the corner of NW 2nd Avenue and NW 203rd Terrace just after 8 p.m. when the suspect approached the victim and shot him at least once on the shoulder, Sgt. Bill Bamford said.

E- NBC Miami: So long, Fat Albert.

Officials say a military blimp that's been tethered in the Florida Keys for more than three decades is coming down for good.

An internal email by Exelis Systems Corp. - the defense contractor that operates the blimps nationally - says Air Force blimp known as "Fat Albert" that hovers over Cudjoe Key will end its 33-year flight on March 15.

F- WSVN: Such a deal!

BOCA RATON, Fla. (WSVN) -- Residents from a South Florida neighborhood are furious after discovering a squatter living in a million dollar mansion, and officials say they can't do anything about it because he is not committing a crime.

A $2.4 million Boca Raton mansion is in foreclosure and is up for sale. According to police, a man is living inside the home free of charge. "I don't think anyone has really seen him," said neighbor Gary Pollack. "I know we've had the police here a number of occasions."

Andre Barbosa has been squatting in the home and has been posting pictures on Facebook

Bank of America foreclosed the home last July. Soon after, the 23-year-old moved into the home using a loophole called adverse possession, which allows someone to move in. As long as you maintain the home and pay the taxes for seven years, the home is yours to keep.

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