Homeless

There are alot of homeless people in South Florida. As a former resident of Miami Beach, I can tell you there is quite a problem, and as is the case with most homeless people, they are either drug or alcohol addicts that let their life spin out of control, people with mental illnesses, or both.

This is an interesting article written by a student in St. Augustine about the issue

Miami cock story

So maybe by now, my cohort and I may seem to be obsessed with roosters, but seriously, they are a plague upon this city. But I still love them, to the point that my ring tone is a rooster call. My boss thought it was hilarious until he was cursed by a rooster and had to call rooster rooters to remove it (it took the company several days apparently.)
So it seems appropriate to share my favorite rooster story. One morning I was driving home from my boyfriend's house. It was almost 7 a.m. and as I am driving through the back roads, I notice there is a house with a fence fairly close to it (SoFla isn't known for vast amounts of space.) Perched upon the fence was a rooster, crowing away. Maybe I was delirious or maybe I'm just demented, but it cracked me up. How annoying would that be to have a rooster on your fence, intent on letting you know it exists?

Other random Key West oddities

If you look closely you can see this run-down church has an evil-eye protector on it. I thought that was interesting. It's something you see alot in Italy.





The masons are apparently everywhere. Including drunken little towns that are 90 miles from Cuba.





If these things scare you, hop in this van....

cock pics, and a little gato too

Roosters you guys! Roosters! And six-toed cats as promised! (get your minds out of the gutter now!)

My first stop on the cruise was Key West, which has tons of roosters because they are protected. As well as six-toed cats because Hemingway bred them while he lived there.

The Cock Series - Part 1

The elusive fireman cock in Brickell. All over Miami, you can find statues of the rooster (aka the cock), especially in Little Havana. You can also find real live versions in backyards, along US-1, Lincoln Road, Key West, Hobie Beach (if they ran away and aren't the guest of honor in a santeria extravaganza)...basically all over the place.

City of Signs - Can't Keep Us Out

It happens everywhere: signs posted and no one pays any attention to them. In Miami, however, there are lots of signs and someone likes to post them where there is really no need. Take the other night for example. We were walking to go get delicious hot dogs and headed down a sidewalk which was in tip top condition when we came across a "sidewalk closed" sign. A few feet away, we came across a giant pit of darkness which had no sign posted to warn us of our impending doom. Is this Miami's way of tricking us into an early grave (literally - you should have seen the hole, could have fit at least five with no one to hear you scream), a joke or just an example of the randomness that is Miami? We documented our blasphemy towards el sign in the photos above and neglected to document the pit of darkness as that is how the city would have wanted it. Nonetheless, we survived and got our hot dogs. Awesomeness 1 Miami 0.

Florida Burning

This is something serious - and perhaps a misadventure if you are a piece of vegetation (i'm sorry). It's unusual to find ash on your car in downtown Miami. Here's the latest story below (cough, cough):

Everglades Brush Fire Puts S. Fla. Under Air Quality Alert
Everglades Wildfire Prompts Prison Evacuations
POSTED: 11:44 am EDT May 19, 2008
UPDATED: 10:16 pm EDT May 19, 2008

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- South Florida residents were warned to stay indoors and an air quality alert was put into effect as smoke from a massive wildfire in Everglades National Park billowed their way.
The fire has been burning in a northeast corner section of the Everglades known as Mustang Corner since Friday.

No structures were in danger, though officials said the fire was burning in the only known habitat for the endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow.
The 36,000-acre blaze was about 30 percent contained. The smoke was blowing to the northeast, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Nina Barrow. Smoke and fog advisories were issued for Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Glades counties.
Moderate to "unhealthy" air quality conditions were expected throughout the week, according to the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resource Management.
"The wind is coming from the southwest and pushing the fire to the northeast," Barrow said. "We have seven helicopters and two single-engine air tankers that provide water drops on this northeast corner of the fire. They've been working all day today and yesterday."
Almost 200 firefighters, some from out-of-state, gathered at a command post at Homestead General Aviation Airport on Monday morning to make a strategy on how to combat the flames. Helicopters, some large enough to drench a fire with 750 gallons of water in one drop, flew into the Everglades.
Seven helicopters and two tankers were performing water drops Monday to stop the fire from reaching Krome Avenue and Tamiami Trail, Barrow said.
"Seventy percent of the fire does not have a good fire line around it to prevent it from spreading further," she said.
Investigators said they believed a person might have started the fire.
"They're out in the woods, they're using mechanized equipment, they're burning trash in their back yards, and every time you do that now, you take the chance of starting a fire," said Deputy Chief David Utley of the Florida Division of Forestry.
Low humidity, a lack of rain and brittle brush has contributed to the large blaze in an area that was once marshy and full of swamplands.
"Then when we put so much population on the east coast and we're draining the water out from underneath the Everglades to use as drinking water, we're seeing the levels out here in the Glades go down," Utley said.
Monday brought rain to the area, which is exactly what firefighters said they need to cut through the smoke, moisten the fire's fuel and put out the flames. Still, only a small amount of rain fell on the flames.
NBC6 Chief Meteorologist Paul Deanno said Monday night and Tuesday morning winds are expected to be lighter, which is good to fight the fire.
However, with the low winds, a dense smoke advisory will remain in effect for the western communities of Broward and Miami-Dade counties from 10 p.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The low-settling smoke will cause visibility problems on South Florida roads, fire officials said.
Everglades Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Of Prison
Everglades Correctional Institution and the Krome Detention Center were being evacuated as a precaution due to the nearby fires. The fire is approximately ten miles from Everglades, which evacuated 1,753 inmates. Krome is federal immigration lockup that holds about 600 inmates. The inmates were being taken to other facilities.
Related Content: Video
"The Homestead Command Center notified the Department of Corrections early this afternoon that the Mustang Corner wildfire could not be contained and was a threat to the Everglades prison," said Joellyn Rackless of the State Department of Corrections.
With heavily armed security nearby, the more than 2,000 prisoners were taken across the state in shackles for their own safety.
"The inmates will be moved to institutions throughout the state where there are vacancies," Rackless said.
The inmates will be in transit and will not be able to contact anyone for at least 48 hours.
Click here for more information on the inmate evacuations.
Central Fla. Wildfires 75 Percent Contained
Firefighters have been battling 88 active fires that have burned 44,000 acres from Brevard County, on the state's Atlantic coast, south to Miami-Dade County.
Six fires that had burned about 12,500 acres and destroyed a number of homes in Brevard County were about 75 percent contained, said Florida Division of Forestry spokesman Todd Schroeder. The causes of the blazes remained under investigation.
Officials also were concerned that rain in the forecast Monday could worsen conditions on Lake Okeechobee after five wildfires burned over 25,000 acres in the dry lake bed.
Firefighters have not been trying to contain the fires because no homes were threatened, said U.S. Division of Forestry spokeswoman Melissa Yunas said.
But any rain could bring lightning and high winds that could help the blazes spread across the exposed lake bottom.
"The vegetation is already dry enough," Yunas said.

return from somewhere

So I am back from my week long vacation. I went cruising to Key West and Cozumel (pictures of six-toed cats to follow soon) and then wrapped up my trip with my friend in St. Thomas, USVI. What a strange and bizarre place, and I have never been so ready to return to Miami in my entire life. I don't even know if I can put it into words....

The Beach

Sprinkled throughout the beach, and right next door to the swankiest places there are abandoned (or sort of abandoned - there's no rent to pay) hotels. This is one of my favorites and at sunset you can see the sun shine through all the open windows.

Mini Golf on Biscayne and Cinco de Mayo

The Warriors:
The Battle:

The End:

Sometimes you go out just hoping to play mini golf and chill at a Cinco de Mayo party and sometimes it ends up like this. What can you do?

Ripped Downtown Art

This wasn't here the other day. I noticed this last Saturday night (May 10th). I call it "Man and Little Man."

Greatest Dogs in the World!

Colombian hot dogs at La Moon - who knew something so crazy could be so delicious!?

* Side note: I am two steps away from being a vegetarian but haven't been able to give these up yet.

Art Walk - May 10, 2008

The Wynwood Art Walk and its cups. The galleries are pretty neat and there's always good stuff out on the street.

Miami Beach foliage

It amazes me how you can walk north from South Beach a few blocks and you go from crazy party central to extreme foliage, like this thing, which I refer to as the huge spikey death plant.

Spaceship Art

Steely spaceship art on Brickell Key.

March 9th - The day I met Mr. Clucky

Mr. Clucky outside the Van Dyke on Lincoln Road. He and his friend Mark were riding a bike.

Miami is Strange: Part 2

Two years ago I left New Orleans and moved to Miami. Many people thought I was insane leaving one of the greatest cities in the world. These same people thought I was crazy for moving to a city more prone to hurricanes than the Big Easy. I moved to Miami not knowing what to expect but already having a strong sense of what was here. I was never so wrong in my life (despite what I was led to believe on CSI - damn you, Caruso!).

Miami is full of surprises. Everyday has the potential to be weird and so are the inhabitants. Some days are extremely bizarre, beautiful, and can be frightening but there's always something to do and a good story to tell.

miami is strange

let's face it, miami is a weird place. this place is a mixmatch of culture, race and religion, and you will see things here you would never expect. like some guy with a goat on a leash on Collins Ave or wild roosters, which you can take as a sign of the undercurrent of santeria.

Dave Barry has been quoted as saying miami is trapped under a magnet of weirdness, and it's true. my goal with this blog is to catalogue the random strange things i stumble across as a non-native miamian....