They caught the UM croc killers! Good. Scumbags.

On a more silly note, here is a picture of another rediculous rogue flamingo statue, this one is in the grove in Cocowalk:



Happy Halloween! I'm dressing up, watching trick-or-treaters and then finding fun times and crazy costumes tonight!

El Capitan is not. Why? because my collegue is out of the country.... jerk!

Santa's Enchanted Forest

It's only fitting that I post this rant, considering its "cold" today in Miami (it was about 60 once the sun went down.)

One of my first memories of how bizarre Miami can be came about 4 years ago, in late November or so. I had been living on South Beach, which we all know is a bubble, separate from the rest of the city, and two of my coworkers and I were driving to Dadeland for a work meeting. We were on 826 when we passed the most hideously, gloriously tacky monstrosity on the Palmetto.

That tacky place is none other than Santa's Enchanted Forest. It is a nightmare of lights, rides and other fair-related events. I have never been but have always found it hilarious that Miami has a Christmas-themed fair for two months.

Well it's not funny anymore, and I will tell you why. The forest happens to be across from the Publix and Target that I most often frequent, and traffic in that particular spot happens to be a pain anyway. With the Forest opening on November 6, I am going to have to find a new grocery and Target (this will probably save me money.)

The worst part is that Santa's Enchanted Forest is actually pretty expensive to get into, considering it's a tacky fair on the outskirts of Tropical Park. So I doubt I will waste my time taking pictures and making fun of it later.... Especially considering I would have to sit in traffic for an hour to get there.

Bassnectar...

This past Saturday we went to go see Bassnectar, dj at 305 Lounge. I haven't been there before, but it's a really cool venue. It's behind Buck 15/Miss Yip between Lincoln Road and 17th Street on Miami Beach. It's a small dive bar with graffiti art on the walls:




a DJ booth towards the back, in the middle of the floor:




and a longish bar, with two flat-screen TVs. We got there a little early, and hung out on the couches (though after my brief stint working at Nikki Beach, I am hesitant to sit on any couches in bars or clubs... and that's all I will say about that.)

It was a good show, Bassnectar rocked. He played some Beats Antique remixes, some NIN, some Nirvana and a bunch of other really really cool stuff. I definitely recommend seeing him when he comes 'round again.



And as we were walking out, I snapped this picture, because it's so South Beach (and no, while Buck 15 is cool, I would never wait in line to get in.)

RIP

RIP Tavishistan!

A good friend of mine from college started this blog, and she blogged about everything from tennis, traveling the world (literally, her pics were amazing) to politics. Regardless of the topic, the posts were always witty, intelligent and well-thought out. Goodbye Tavishistan, and I hope to see you again in the blogosphere!

Om Beauty

Ok so I have been in desperate need of a hair cut. Not just because of split ends, but for my own personal sanity, I needed a change. I know it sounds silly, but when I get stressed out or upset, I feel like I need to do something drastic, but not so drastic as a tattoo or something.

I have lived in Miami for five years, and I have yet to find a salon or stylist that I like. I went to Contesta Rock Hair which I always liked (except one or two hair cuts) but I no longer live on the beach and would prefer to not drive there.

I googled locations and found Om Beauty, an Aveda concept salon, online and figured, "why not?" Further reviews told that the owner, Daisy was on some show called "Shear Genius" or something.

Anyway, I have found my new salon. There is ample parking, it's centrally located in Miami and the people are super super nice. it's a small salon, laid-back and they give you Yogi Tea (my favorite.) I also was able to get a cute haircut without being pressured about coloring it or being told to grow it out.

They get my stamp of approval.

Out of the Office for a bit - Will be back soon!

So I'm leaving today for vacation! Hooray!

Yesterday I saw chickens along US-1. Today I saw peacocks along Main Highway. Who knows what kind of fowl I'll see along my travels in the next few days. I'm headed to the Old Country so I am leaving this wonderful blog in the hands of my trusted and trusty friend, Christina to keep an eye out for the wacky and tacky that is South Florida awesomeness. I will be back in early November just in time to vote!

See you then,

el capitan :)

RA

Yesterday, el hombre and I went out for my birthday to RA Sushi, and I have to say, while the decor is interesting, the rest of the place is not so much. The food was decent, we had two rolls and tuna tataki, but for half the price we could have gotten the same quality of food over at Sushi Maki, right down the street.
What bothered me was the service. Our waitress was a nice girl, but she just didn't know what she was doing, which ended up pissing off el hombre. At the end of our meal, we could have gotten up and left, and nobody would have noticed... at least not for awhile. In addition to that, I ordered a drink off their specialty menu and it wasn't mixed properly, and I could taste the layers of alcohol... not so good.

In total, the food was good, but not good enough for me to go back.

Yeeeah!

And this is news to who?

According to the AP Wire, Cubans are now trying to get to the United States through Mexico instead of trying to raft it to the keys.

Now, I understand that the Cuban population has it really hard, and as a result, many try to escape the island and lose their lives or their family members in the process. However, Cubans have been coming through Mexico for years now, is this really new to the U.S. government?

There has got to be a better way to help these people, because our policies for the last 50 years are obviously not working (for the record, I don't know the answer, so please don't flame me.) Instead, money is being fed to smugglers, and the people who really need the help are suffering the most.

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Signs of our Times....

El hombre spotted this sign on Flagler, so we stopped by today to snap a picture.

A Day at the Beach

These were taken a couple of weekends ago as a storm rolled in on South Beach. The crazy kiteboarders were out in full force up and down the beach:

Vacation Holiday

So I am finally recovered (well, as much as possible) from my trip to Tampa this weekend. I tend to go to our neighbor to the northwest once a year for karate-related purposes, and on the way back, El Hombre and I stopped in Clearwater for the afternoon, my first time there, in fact.

There are some marked differences between Tampa and Miami. Gas is cheaper, for one. There is also an abundance of pirate references, which thrills me (and I am dying to go to Gasparilla this year.)



But I have to say, while I still love Miami beaches, Clearwater beach is very family friendly and the sand is really really soft, not ground up cement and coral like in SoBe.





Although you can definitely go swimming in mid-October in both Miami and Tampa.



The turtles that decorate every block of the beach boardwalk are adorable!



Who doesn't love a random Elvis cooler outside of a bait and tackle shop, right off the highway?



A sign that I still love living in Miami more (and not just because we get less hurricanes).... rainbow on the way home, over Alligator Alley.

Down Home Politics Along South Dixie

I love this. I was driving up US-1 last night after work and was sitting at a light next to a vacant lot full of political signs. This one, made only of posterboard and black marker, stood out from the rest. And it has a catchy motto too - "Tell your pa and yo momma this country needs Barack Obama!" The likeness is amazing as well!

South Florida Mannequins - Part 2

And now the second installment of the series, South Florida Mannequins. I'm keeping an eye out for more so there will be a part 3 in the series.

The Black and Red Models:

The Faceless Models:

I don't know what to call these:

South Florida Mannequins - Part 1

I've always been somewhat disturbed yet intrigued by mannequins (even the movie Mannequin gives me a strange feeling that I don't quite comprehend) and I've seen quite a few odd displays lately in the South Florida area, so I decided to start documenting them. And voila, I present to you, the South Florida Mannequin Series, Part 1:

The Terminator Mannequins (very nice clothes, Terminatoresque models):

Signs - South Beach

I've always been drawn to really neat signs and advertising (especially if it's in neon). I was really happy to have stumbled upon these two on a fence south of 5th on the Beach. It looks like a small community garden.

The Coral Gables Art Walk

So in honor of the Wynwood Art Walk that I'm missing this weekend, I thought I would post pictures of the Gables Art Walk. These are the two big art walks in Miami and they couldn't be any more different. Wynwood is a collection of galleries in a pretty bad neighborhood. More of the young "indie" crowd goes there because there is more beer than wine, and the art is more edgy, more abstract, more street art and near bars like Circa 28, Vagabond and PS14.

The Gables Art Walk brings an older crowd, it's in downtown Coral Gables and there are fewer galleries (The America's was hands-down my fave), and many of those galleries are much more commercial. However, they put up tents for artists (and sponsors) to display their wares. They also build a stage and book local bands like Suenalo (my current favorite) and Locos por Juana to name a few.




I loved this painting

South Florida weather

Sometimes you feel like you are stuck in the middle of a monsoon down here in SoFla. Today was one of those days (and try driving on US-1 in the a.m. or the Palmetto in the p.m. when you can barely see beyond your hood. It's not fun)

So el hombre snapped this picture and sent it to me:

Religulous in South Florida

I haven't seen the movie yet but intend on doing so, so this is sort of a blind plug but Bill Maher's new film, Religulous, takes him all over the world to speak to people about religion and to two stops here in South Florida: The Holy Land Experience in Orlando and here in Miami to the Growing in Grace Ministry where the leader (or whatever you want to call him) Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda believes he is Jesus. Miami.com has a review of the film. I will try to see it soon. And want to investigate this Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda character a bit more. I vaguely remember seeing something on the news about him last year. Sounds like an interesting Miamian.

Scenes from South Beach

It was such a nice day yesterday that it was a perfect evening to go to the beach. Here are some photos from the area:

Coconut Grove Marina

Boats and more boats:

Only in Miami

Only in Miami would you get a flyer like this:

Jay-Z and a Vote for Change

Last night at Bayfront Park there was a FREE concert featuring Jay-Z!!! It was great - he performed for a good hour playing all sorts of hits new and old, and encouraged the crowd to get out there and vote. In order to get a ticket, there were tables outside where people registered to vote (and vote for change was the theme of the night). Jay-Z along with most of the crowd (most likely all of the crowd) will be voting for Obama. I got some awesome photos and the stageshow was spectacular:

New to the blogroll

Welcome Fashion Bee!

Fashion Bee is 23, fabulous, originally from VA, currently working on a masters degree in S.Fl, strict vegetarian (that means no fish people), buddhist, tech-savvy, prefer heels to flats, and a bikini is my favorite outfit. If she was a wrestler, her finishing move would be the super bellyflop.

The Bee seems to blog about a variety of topics, from politics to tv.


(yes Rick, I stole this blog concept from you.)

Art of the Art Walk - Take Three

Here are some more art walk photos as promised. Can't wait for next week's, the scene is really picking up and the art is still awesome. My favorite of this group is from the Chelsea Gallery where there was a painting of a picnic. If you looked closely, you could see a mini Dee Snider in the middle. Precious.

From Chelsea Gallery:


Check out lil' Dee:


From other galleries: