What do McCain and a clueless blonde have in common?

Great LA Times story here on McCain's "YouTube gap."

Coming soon to a cell phone near you....

PHISHING!!

We all get those "phishing" e-mails that look so authentic. The most popular ones seem to originate from Bank of America or EBay.

It's a simple scam; the e-mail says your account has been compromised or inactive but if you click on the link and update your account information everythng will be just fine.

Of course savvy computer users aren't fooled by the links that lead to some bogus website in China that's been set up to look like a real Bank of America site.

Most people just hit delete. Especially when the e-mail seems to be from Bank of America and you have a Wachovia account.

But there are always some who are unsophisticated enough to fall for the scam.

And now the "phishers" are trying something different.

They're sending instant "phishing" messages to cell phones.

I shot a photo of my first "phishing" message received yesterday.

A vist to the EPPI Card website shows that they are aware of the problem.And now you've been warned!!!

Fear factor

UPDATE: It just occurred to me that perhaps the Sun-Sentinel hired someone from Channel 7 to run their website!

I'm old enough to remember when newspapers provided information not hype! What's the point of this?

"...When the bullet leaves the gun..."

I wrote the story below (and shot photos) about Miami Herald photographer Tim Chapman over a year ago. It was posted on the now defunct blog category305.com.

I've been looking for an excuse to re-post here on my own blog.

Today Tim gave me an excuse by taking another great newsphoto!

There are still a few living legends right here in Miami. Tim is one of them!

----

New York City-1935--A lone freelance news photographer prowls the streets at night looking for news photos for the city's scrappy tabloids.

The 36 year-old Ukrainian immigrant and former darkroom helper hits the streets each night listening to a police radio in his battered Chevy coupe, searching for random acts of mayhem that will make a good news picture; a mob hit, a tenement fire, a spectacular car crash.

This is the golden-age of newspapers. Everyone gets their news from a newspaper and competition among the city's papers is fierce.

The photographer wears a rumpled suit that he, more often than not, sleeps in when he has time to catch a few minutes of rest before the next story.

He's always seen with a cheap cigar clenched between his teeth.

He works out of the trunk of his car which is crammed with the tools of his trade: a typewriter, old cigar boxes filled with film holders for his two bulky Speed Graphic cameras, boxes and boxes of flashbulbs and something a news photographer shouldn't be without--a pair of rubber boots for covering fires.

For 11 years--between 1935 and 1946--Arthur Fellig (aka Weegee) roamed the streets in search of news photos, and in the process became a legend.

Today his gritty news photographs are considered art and are exhibited in museums and galleries and sell for thousands of dollars.

Fellig died in 1968 at the age of 69.
---------
Miami--March, 2007-A lone news photographer eases his silver Toyota SUV out of the Miami Herald's parking garage.

He wants to hit the streets before the sun rises. For the next eight hours, the former Herald darkroom tech, will roam the streets of Miami in search of a news picture.

A hand rolled cigar is clenched between his teeth, fired up and filling the interior of his car with a cloudy haze. "It's my breakfast cigar," he explains.

He wears a utilitarian khaki shirt and cargo pants.

The front seat of his still-new SUV is crammed with several portable police scanners, two Nikon digital cameras, a reporter's notebook and a silver thermos filled with steaming coffee. A laptop computer is stowed in the back seat.

The similarities between Weegee and the Miami Herald's veteran news shooter Tim Chapman are uncanny. Although more than half a century separates them, Weegee practiced and Chapman practices what one reporter calls "old school journalism."

Five days a week Chapman, 56, travels hundreds of miles of Miami-Dade County streets chasing spot news; fires, shootings, car crashes. And there's plenty to cover; "Miami is a newsman's dream," says Chapman.

When he hears a call on one of his scanners he races to the scene and shoots photos and then files them to the dayside news editor who posts them on the Miami Herald's website often within minutes of his arrival. Chapman also dictates bare-bones accounts of what he shoots that are re-written and posted with Chapman's byline by the editor, 25 year veteran Casey Frank.

Chapman's mandate is clear: get the news first, get it fast and get it right. Or as he puts it: "The deadline for the internet is now!" Chapman continues: "My goal is to get there when the bullet leaves the gun. If the PIO (public information officer) is there when I get there then I've missed the picture."

Chapman says he recently had photos a West Miami-Dade warehouse fire on the net before firefighters had the blaze under control.

---------
It's no secret, even to the most casual observer, that the economics of print journalism are changing.

Newspapers are struggling to adapt to a rapidly-changing journalism landscape. News consumers can now pick and choose where, how and when they get their news. Competing with newspapers are Internet, cable news, magazines, radio and satellite radio.

In 1963 when the Herald moved into the building they now occupy, newspapers were king. The world moved at a slower pace. If you were a real news junkie, besides your morning paper you could subscribe to LIFE magazine, or watch local and network newscasts which usually ran about 15 minutes each. And if you wanted more news you could watch a newsreel at your local movie theater.

In 1963 Dade County had a population of about 1,050,000. The Herald's daily circulation was about 330,000 according to a special section the Herald printed to coincide with the opening of their new building. Miami-Dade County now has a population of over two and a quarter million. However, according to the paper's website, Herald circulation is about 314,000.

"For newspapers the watchword is hyperlocalism," Tom Rosenstiel director of the Washington DC-based Project for Excellence in Journalism said recently on NPR.

Chapman is more direct: "I want to shoot good news photos and stories of local events."

So in addition to putting out a daily paper the Herald has assembled what Frank calls "a small, quick moving team of folks" whose job it is to "beat everyone to the news" and get it on the web.
-----------

Chapman eases his SUV onto I-95 and heads north. The road ahead is clear. Morning rush hour and all the traffic right now is southbound.

"My enemy is the traffic," Chapman says as he explains his first call of the morning. "I got a motorman down at Northwest one-one-nine and one-seven," he says in police- speak. Translation: A motorcycle cop has been involved in an accident at NW 119th Street and 17th Avenue.

Chapman drives and explains his journalism philosophy. "I'm a hunter/news gatherer." Chapman says that he shoots news for the guy who doesn't have time to read the paper before he leaves for work but will probably hit the Herald website at work. "If you're not looking on the web then you're not getting your news."

Chapman reaches the scene of the "accident" but it turns out to be a minor mishap involving a Miami Beach motorcycle officer on the way to work. There are about five cops on the scene and it seems that every one of them is filling out forms but Chapman takes time to chat with one who's not busy. "They'll remember me next time," he says before getting in his vehicle and heading back south.

The scanner traffic heats up as the morning wears on: Fire rescue dispatched to a 3-41, an elderly person who has chest pains, assorted minor 17's (traffic accidents), and cops calling in to run checks on people they've stopped for traffic violations.

All minor and not newsworthy.

Chapman has time to talk and and reminisce.

We pass Bubba's Supermarket and Chapman points and laughs. The market is where woman sought refuge in after leading police on a two county chase a couple of weeks before in a stolen the U-Haul truck. He got a picture of her at the wheel while she was being chased by cops.

After a few more blocks Chapman says "I can drive 10 blocks and for the last 30 years I can tell you what body was laying there."

Chapman remembers alot and there's a lot to remember. He's been a Herald photographer for 35 years and estimates that he's covered 17,000 assignments.
---------
Chapman moved to Hialeah from his birthplace in Ohio when he was eight.
He attended Hialeah High, Miami Dade College and UM.

Got a job right out of UM at the Herald as a lab tech processing film and making prints.

Shot spot news in his spare time and was promoted to staff photographer after a few months. First published photo in the paper was an Everglades fire.

Over the years the stocky, barrel-chested Chapman has covered eight wars, including conflicts in Nicaragua,Masaya Nicaragua / Miami Herald photo by Tim Chapman

El Salvador, Beirut, ("I was the first photographer to transmit color photos out of Beirut in '83.") Cuba a dozen times, Haiti and on and on. Back in Miami he covered the Mariel boatlift and cocaine cowboy wars of the 80's. Mariel refugees /Miami Herald photo by Tim Chapman

But he says his biggest story was the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in November 1979.

He remembers details like it was yesterday.

He was working at the Herald early in the morning when the story crossed the wires. He grabbed $2,000 he kept in his locker for emergencies and his passport and jumped a plane for Trinidad and then another for Guyana.

While other journalists were attending official press conferences in Georgetown Chapman made his way to a dusty airstrip where a Guyanese military chopper was waiting to ferry approved journalists to the scene of the massacre.

When the pilot told him that he wasn't on the list Chapman protested that there must be some mistake and if he didn't get in he'd be fired.

He tells the pilot that he'll take a picture of him next to his chopper and send it to him when he gets home. After a few minutes the pilot relents and lets Chapman fly in with just a few other journalists and photographers.

Chapman remembers more details. Flying 300 feet over the settlement he says he could smell the stench of rotting bodies. "It looked like a carnival; they were all wearing colorful clothes." Once on the ground the journalists were on the own. The Guyanese military refused to go into the camp with them. Early reports said that about half the settlers had vanished into the jungle and some of the journalists worried that they might come back to the camp and start shooting.Miami Herald photo by Tim Chapman

His most vivid recollection while walking through the hellish scene and the hundreds of bloated bodies was that it was "like something out of a Dali painting." Chapman recalls that among the death the only other living creatures were the settlers' colorful pet parrots that just sat silently on fences.

After spending an hour or two in the camp Chapman flew back to the airstrip where he was confronted by a journalist from Germany's Stern magazine who offered him $10,000 for his film. Chapman refused and returned to Miami with the pictures the world was waiting to see.
--------
At 8:30 Chapman pulls into a parking space in front of a Nicaraguan diner on Calle Ocho. Once inside he quickly orders a traditional Nicaraguan breakfast of fried eggs, gallo pinto and maduros. Minutes later he's back in the car and lighting up his fourth cigar of the morning...or is it his fifth? And then he's back in traffic and closely listening to the scanners.

An editor calls and asks him to check out a Miami police sweep in the Grove.

Minutes later he pulls into a shopping center parking lot at 27th Avenue and US 1 where police have set up a command post complete with marked parking spots for Chief John Timoney and a brand spanking new mobile command unit that has obviously been purchased with Homeland Security funds. Chapman's out his element here; he doesn't like "dog and pony shows." After chatting with some of the bored cops he quickly pulls back into traffic.

Suddenly the scanner jumps to life: "ATTENTION ALL UNITS; 3-32; PERSON STABBED AT FIVE FIVE NORTHEAST FIVE FIVE STREET!"

Chapman pops a Jimi Hendrix CD into the CD player and turns up the volume and floors the gas pedal. He's on his way to the first real call of the day. An assault at 55 N.E. 55th Street. Homicide detectives get on the frequency and order responding units to preserve the scene when they arrive. But we can hardly hear because Chapman has turned up the volume on the CD player and Hendrix bellows:

"There must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief...."

On the way the first arriving police units advise the dispatcher that it's not a stabbing but a shooting.

The CD player blares louder:

"No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke but uh..."

Minutes later Chapman arrives after a very hairy ride up NE 2nd Avenue.

The Toyota has barely stopped and Chapman is out and on the run shooting photos of a guy being loaded into a Miami Fire Rescue unit. Chapman jumps back in the Toyota and pulls around the corner where cops are already threading the parking lot of a tired looking apartment complex with yellow crime scene tape; something they never seem to run out of.

Chapman starts to shoot more photos of the scene from a discreet distance.
He then walks over to a knot of spectators where, miraculously he finds the woman who found the victim. After getting her name and a quote about gunfire a policewoman appears and takes the witness behind the tape.

The normally gregarious Miami police commander David Magnusson has taken charge of the scene. He's got the cops stringing even more tape and Chapman senses he's not in a talkative mood.

But it doesn't matter; Chapman has enough pictures and a few quotes and five minutes after he arrived he's excitedly dictating the witnesses' account to his editor and in another few minutes he's scanning the photos in his laptop and sending them to the paper.

Chapman takes the time to chat with a few of the cops who've recognized him and a few minutes later he's back in the Toyota firing up another cigar. As he puffs on the cigar the police crime scene technician slowly pulls up and a minute or two later the homicide detectives arrive and cautiously saunter towards the active crime scene. Chapman barely notices; his work is done.

Chapman pulls slowly away from the curb and heads back to Herald building. He's tired and wants to get home and take a nap before doing some yard work.

Rupert likes Obama

Rupert Murdoch: love him or hate him, you can't ignore him.

Some fascinating insights here on his thinking about the state of newspapers and also what he thinks of Obama:("rock star") and McCain:(“unpredictable”). Read the story and watch the videos.

Rumors

Saw this on The Daily Pulp today. Thought I'd share. It's too good not to.

Andres O to right-wingers: "Go ahead, make my day!"

Looks like the Herald website is going a little "tabloid" on us today with exclamation points in the headline and the aggressive invitation for a "throwndown" to all the right-wing readers who will surely show up to "confront" Andres.

Should make for interesting reading ....and of course drive up those page views!

Eliott Rodriguez, news anchor, rap star!

You know him, you love him, Mr. Excitement and my friend Eliott Rodriguez, news anchor at CBS4, who's been lulling who once lulled Miami audiences to sleep, tells me he has a new gig.

"E-Rod" has launched a new career as a rap star!

Well, sort of. He sent me an e-mail telling me that his voice is "prominently featured" (along with colleague Shomari Stone) on the new album of the socially challenged rapper Foxy Brown.

Click here to listen to a sample. Once you get to the page click on the #1 song sample "Brooklyn's Don Diva"

Don't quit your day job Eliott! ;=)

John McCain in his own words...whatever they are

Wed May 28, 2008 1:08am EDT
By Tim Gaynor
DENVER (Reuters) - Republican candidate John McCain edged further away from U.S. President George W. Bush on foreign policy on Tuesday even as he accepted Bush's help in raising much-needed campaign dollars for his White House bid.

If that left you scratching your head, just watch the video!

Another day on South Beach

UPDATE: From today's Herald:
BY JENNIFER LEBOVICH
jlebovich@MiamiHerald.com

Miami Beach police arrested a 24-year-old driver Monday after he struck two cars, fled from police on foot and then forced himself into the home of an elderly couple.

Seption L. King was charged with several offenses, including leaving the scene of an accident with serious injuries, fleeing and eluding an officer, battery on a law enforcement officer and battery on a law enforcement dog.

Here's what happened, according to Miami Beach police Detective Juan Sanchez:

King, in a white Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle, got into an accident in the 800 block of Ocean Drive just after 3 p.m.

He fled from officers and then got into another accident at Eighth Street and Meridian Avenue in which someone was injured. That person was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center and was in stable condition.

King's SUV flipped over and he ran from police, forcing his way into a house in the 600 block of Lenox Avenue. He hid in the laundry room, tussling with police before K-9 officers arrested him.

Neither the officers, nor the K-9s, were injured.
-----------

A few pics of a bad crash at 8th St. and Meridian Ave on Miami Beach Monday afternoon.

Serious but not unlike any other accident except that cops say that it started with a guy hitting a another car on Ocean Drive and then fleeing and hitting a car with some innocent people at Meridian Ave.

The people were taken to the hospital and the bad guy ran away but was caught.

Haven't seen anything on the Herald's website or on TV.

Joan Fleischman's love affair with Miami's TV judges

"The stuff that Joan digs up can be funny, especially when it's not about you. It's usually a scoop. And, as many among the powerful can attest, it can be embarrassing. But you can always believe it; this isn't gossip; it's journalism." -- Tom Fiedler writing about Joan Fleischman in The Herald, June 14, 2002

"Joan Fleischman's Talk of Our Town, [is] a pithy compilation of news and notes about people in South Florida, each item certain to be both interesting and rigorously reported." -- Tom Fiedler writing about Joan Fleischman in The Herald, July 24, 2005

---

I have this uncanny "gift" of remembering snippets of things I've read years and sometimes decades ago. It's kind of like the taste of that chicken chow mein you had for lunch that stays with you way past dinner, only the quotes stay with me longer.

So when the Herald's Gossip Maven Extraordinaire, Joan Fleischman, ran two items within the space of two weeks in her column earlier this month mentioning TV judge Marilyn Milian, I immediately recalled Tom Fiedler's line from six years ago about Joan's column being "journalism."

From Joan's May 7, 2008 column:

"TV judges Marilyn Milian (The People's Court) and David Young (Judge David Young), residents of South Florida, are contenders for a Daytime Emmy in a new category -- Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program."

From Joan's May 21, 2008 column:

"Coral Gables couturier Rene Ruiz has two new customers -- Daytime Emmy contenders Marilyn Milian of The People's Court and David Young of Judge David Young. Both plan to wear his fashions when they appear June 20 on national TV for the awards ceremony.

"Milian, 47, says she'll leave the design up to Ruiz. 'I'm open to anything. I'm just going to let him do his magic.'"

That's "journalism??"

Like I said I remember a lot of what I read and I try not to miss Joan's column. As soon as I read that May 21 item it dawned on me that Joan writes about these TV judges quite a bit.

It was time to hit the archives!

I didn't have to look far before little TV judge nuggets started popping up like mushrooms!

In Joan's Feb. 24, 2008 column on Miami-Dade County Judge Karen Mills-Francis quitting as of May 23 to become a TV judge with a show produced by Sony Television, she mentions Milian , Alex Ferrer, David Young and Cristina Pereyra-Shuminer, all TV judges. Sony also produces Young's show. Obviously someone at Sony has Joan's number on speed dial!

On Dec. 17, 2007 the Herald's Lesley Abravanel stole Joan's thunder and wrote an item on Judge Marilyn which prominently plugs the channel and airtime of the show in the first paragraph.

Lesley goes on to share with us essential details of Judge Marilyn's life in South Fla: she likes Mojitos restaurant at the Dolphin Mall, Bebe's at the Village of Merrick Park and her favorite thing about South Fla.: "The weirdness factor, as best described by Herald columnist Dave Barry 10 years ago in Tropic Magazine." Ugh!! Dave Barry! That tells me all I need to know about Her Honor!

In Nov. 18, 2007 Joan wrote in her column:

"Yet another Miami-Dade jurist may be headed for national TV: Karen Mills-Francis, county judge. Mills-Francis, 47, has taped episodes of a Judge Karen show that Sony Pictures Television is pitching nationwide for fall '08.

...Miami's other TV judges: Marilyn Milian (The People's Court); Alex Ferrer (Judge Alex); David Young (Judge David Young), and Cristina Pereyra-Shuminer (Veredicto Final)."

It also seems whenever Joan writes about one of these TV judges she uses the opportunity to mention all of the other local judges who have TV shows....sometimes multiple mentions in the same column.

In Joan's Nov. 18 column she wrote about David Young again after mentioning him in the item about Judge Francis:

"OUT -- AND ABOUT
TV judge David Young, a former Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge, made OUT magazine's 2007 list of 100 most influential people in gay culture.

Young, 48, had a blast at the New York reception. "I hung out with Bebe Neuwirth and Jennifer Hudson." He also met Chaka Khan, who performed at the event. Says Young: "I introduced myself. You know I'm not shy."

Young attended with his longtime partner, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Scott Bernstein."

I dug deeper and didn't have to look far.

From Joan's Oct. 21, 2007 column:

"The People's Court Judge Marilyn Milian dressed down University of Miami law student Eric Paolino, giving him a lesson in courtroom etiquette on national TV, in an episode that aired Monday. Milian was visibly angry -- no act. A video clip of her tongue-lashing is on YouTube.

"The case: a landlord-tenant dispute, initially filed in Miami-Dade court. Plaintiff: Susan M. Murray, 50, a UM film studies grad student who agreed to rent a room in Paolino's Coconut Grove condo. She gave him a $450 deposit but wanted it back after learning about the condo association's extensive application process. Paolino refused, saying he held the room for her and lost potential rent.

"Milian told Paolino that he did not give Murray adequate notice about the application process. Paolino argued otherwise. "You're dead wrong," Milian told him. "That's your opinion," he shot back."

Joan's not the only writer at the Herald infatuated with Judge Marilyn. Eleven days before Joan's Oct. 21 piece Herald writer Cindy Krischer Goodman mentioned Milian on Oct. 10 in a piece about women lawyers.

That Krischer Goodman piece ran a month after a Sept. 9, 2007 piece by Herald writer Lydia Martin in which she fawned over another TV judge, David Young. Her piece also mentions Milian.

From Lydia's piece:

["David Young] has always been known for his perky judicial style. But in 15 years on the bench he never gayed it up as much as he's gaying it up for Judge David Young, which on Monday joins the crowded roster of courtroom shows. In South Florida it airs at 1 p.m. weekdays on WBFS My33. Young, a Miami native, has long been an out gay judge. But it seems he has been given orders to ramp up the camp for the benefit of the cameras."

I'm not done yet!

Joan penned another TV judge item on June 3, 2007; this one about TV Judge Alex Ferrer who was embroiled in a contract dispute with a Miami lawyer who claimed he was entitled to a percentage of Ferrer's show earnings. Inside baseball to be sure and hardly the trial of the century. And just who in the hell is Judge Alex? I wonder how many other people know this guy? That doesn't stop Joan from writing about them.

In that same June 3 column Joan once again mentions Marilyn Milian in another item about a Univision show planned for Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cristina Pereyra-Shuminer.

Are you following all this?

May 18, 2007: Herald writer Lisa Arthur:

"Hollywood once again has raided the Miami-Dade Circuit Court bench. This fall, David Young will become the third local judge with a television show in syndication.

Young, a criminal-court judge described by the producers who hired him as having a sharp sense of humor and compassionate manner, will step down on May 25. The show is tentatively scheduled to air on My33 in South Florida."

And of course Judge Marilyn and Judge Alex are mentioned.

"He joins former Miami-Dade bench colleagues Marilyn Milian , who hosts The People's Court, and Alex Ferrer of The Judge Alex Show."

Back to Aug. 30, 2006 and Joan mentions Judge Marilyn in an item about bagels; yes bagels!

Writing about new the owners of the Bagel Emporium in Coral Gables (which just happens to be in Joan's 'hood **wink nudge**) Joan finds a way to mention Judge Marilyn. Turns out the good Judge loves those bagels at the Bagel Emporium. What a coincidence!

By the way Joan ends the item with this need to know info on the Emporium: "The Emporium will carry a full dinner menu of roast turkey, prime rib, baked meatloaf and homemade chicken and biscuits."

Jan. 25, 2006: Joan breaks an exclusive!!

George Milian Sr., 82, got in a fender bender Dec. 15 at Southwest Eighth Street and 68th Court in Miami. Cops wrote him two citations - for careless driving, and not carrying proof of insurance."

Why is this news? You guessed it! George is the father of Judge Marilyn!!

Evidently Joan will use any premise, no matter how thin, to mention Judge Marilyn.

On Feb 9, 2005, Joan prints an item about James Denton, a star on Desperate Housewives who told Elle magazine that he has the hots for Judge Marilyn: "Who is your guilty fantasy?'' Denton: "That judge from The People's Court, Marilyn Milian . I spotted her once when I was bored in my trailer. I sat there watching her and thought, 'Wow, she does it for me.'" Joan shares with us that the judge is a fan of Denton too, but is happily married....otherwise, who knows?

Then between Dec. 2001 and Nov. 2004 there are six items in the Herald (not written by Joan) that mention Judge Marilyn.

Joan's first item about Judge Marilyn was in a Dec 22, 2000 column when she wrote that Milian was headed to New York to do a TV show. The brief item mentions Milian's name 16 times.

Following that December item Joan waited until May 9, 2001 to write about Judge Marilyn again wherein she gushed about Judge Marilyn expecting a baby.

Joan Fleischman has done some great work at the Herald but I think she's part of what's wrong over there. She's been doing her column too long. She's a poster child for whatever journalism's equivalent of "term limits" is.

Especially on a beat where one person deals with publicists and flacks with no apparent oversight and single-handedly calls the shots about what does and does not get in her column.

Just how does she manage to get all these "non-news items" printed? They're obviously fed to her by the PR people at Sony and Warner Brothers who syndicate these TV judge shows.

Am I the only one who's noticed this? Has anyone at the Herald confronted her...or do they even care?

Maybe it's time for everyone at the Herald--not just Joan--to take a break and stop writing stuff about these TV judges. After all, they're not really celebrities. They fall into a category I call "junk celebrities." Aren't there more important things to focus on?

Joan from time to time provides even more proof that it's time for her to hang it up.

In her column a few days ago on May 18, she printed an item about Harry Wayne Casey's KC & The Sunshine Band suing a South Florida concert promoter. WTF? KC and the Sunshine Band??

Yup, she dredged Harry out of well deserved obscurity to print this item. In case some of you don't know who this guy is, his song "That's the Way I Like It" was a disco era song that was a thousand times more annoying than fingernails on a blackboard!

Joan...who cares? This is 2008, not 1975.

Any chance you can find a few celebs to write about who aren't AARP members?

And who aren't TV judges?

Today is Memorial day

Take a minute to ponder the real meaning of the day....and also remember those who even though they made it home their lives will never be the same.

Dispatch from the front lines / South Beach

I am constantly amazed at all the hysteria from locals surrounding Memorial Day weekend here on South Beach. 

Today (Sunday) me and my friend Tamara from New Times ventured out to see the sights. Everyone was friendly and "tight" and enjoying the vibe.

Talk of getting out of town or hunkering down etc. is just nonsense in my opinion. It's just like a convention of bankers or accountants...only more "chill."

The reality is that the crowds -- noticeably smaller this year -- only congregate in one small geographic area of South Beach and the rest of the beach is just as navigable as any other weekend. One Miami Beach police sergeant said he did notice that eastbound traffic on the MacArthur was lighter than normal as he drove home at 11pm Saturday night.

Another police source reported everything was going smoothly with only "random acts of stupidity."

Best overheard pick up line of the day!

Enjoy the pics!

Lots of "eye candy"

Bikes were everywhere

Chrome and metal as far as the eye can see

Scene at Collins and 15th Street

Ocean Drive

On the way to a call...the guy in the back had the theme from "Cops" blaring from his car's loudspeaker!

the God Squad keeping the peace

Ocean Drive

Surveying the scene from the Victor

Kodak moment

Is this what they mean by "pimped out?"

This guy took a wrong turn I think...may have been on the way to Mardi Gras!

Spring fashion for the "thug" in your life

Visiting "the 305" from "the 404"

Scene at Armani Exchange...why do clothing stores need DJ's anyway??

Ocean Drive

Sign at Nicole Miller...probably not her customer base anyway.

It's yellow but it's not Gatorade!

from the AP:

"CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Clearwater residents could someday be drinking treated sewage.

City officials are looking to meet the ever-increasing demand for drinking water with purified wastewater. They say recycling wastewater would take pressure off the aquifer, cut the amount of sewage running into local waters and eventually trim water bills."

Maybe the lede should have been: The water in Clearwater might not be so clear any longer if city officials get their way.

Look for more in a Jay Leno monologue next week.

I also posted an item on this from the LA Times a while back.

We have a blog so you don't have to!

EDITED: Friday night @ 11:15pm

I love the NY Times and I especially love the Sunday NY Times.

I read it whenever possible but at five bucks a pop I usually end up reading it online which is not the same as the actual paper. But it sure beats the Sunday Herald.

One of the things I like about the Sunday Times is the magazine.

Years ago they actually had articles worth reading. Now I just look at the magazine for the photography.

They print the work of some incredibly talented photographers. And who doesn't like looking at great photographs?

The stories in The Magazine are another matter.

One of the reasons I don't read the articles is that lately they just seem to be self-absorbed meanderings of snotty little rich kids with Ivy League college degrees.

A few weeks ago they had a cover piece entitled "Young Gay Rites; Why would gay men in their 20's rush to the altar?"
The lede paragraph:

"LAST NOVEMBER IN BOSTON, Joshua Janson, a slender and boyish 25-year-old, invited me to an impromptu gathering at the apartment he shares with Benjamin McGuire, his considerably more staid husband of the same age. It was a cozy, festive affair, complete with some 20 guests and a large sushi spread where you might have expected the chips and salsa to be.

Uhhh; no thanks! It was written by someone named Benoit Denizet-Lewis; who The Times tells us has also written a book called "America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life."

Well I skipped Mr. Denizet-Lewis's piece (whose very name screams to the world: "I am in love with myself and my hyphenated name!") but I did enjoy the photographs
which were extremely well-done and quite amusing. They reminded me of that campy TV ad for Enzyte, the male enhancement tablet.

This week The Times Magazine has found someone else with nothing to say and who has managed to say it in slightly under 8,000 words in the magazine's cover story.

It's written by a hot-looking tattooed, 26 year-old Brooklyn writer and blogger named Emily Gould. On her blog she writes about her life which judging from the lede of her story isn't much of a life at all.
The first graph:

"Back in 2006, when I was 24, my life was cozy and safe. I had just been promoted to associate editor at the publishing house where I’d been working since I graduated from college, and I was living with my boyfriend, Henry, and two cats in a grubby but spacious two-bedroom apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I spent most of my free time sitting with Henry in our cheery yellow living room on our stained Ikea couch, watching TV. And almost every day I updated my year-old blog, Emily Magazine, to let a few hundred people know what I was reading and watching and thinking about."

You know you're in for a rough ride when the first paragraph of a NY Times Magazine piece contains the line: "I spent most of my free time sitting with Henry in our cheery yellow living room on our stained Ikea couch, watching TV."

Makes you want to read every word, huh?

Anyway, in the story she prattles on about her online life and her blog which by the way is called "Emily Magazine, I have a blog so you don't have to." It soon becomes evident that when Emily isn't watching TV she's blogging about every bit of minutiae that is her vapid life in excruciating, mind-numbing detail.

Consider Emily's ode to bacon:

"Like I said, I’m not good at writing about sex, or maybe no one is. But the way I feel about last night is the way I felt about bacon after I started eating meat again after 10 years of vegetarianism. Which was: I wanted everyone to understand how important, how absolutely essential, bacon is. I wanted to tell people about bacon. I actually did tell people, several times. ‘‘Have you had bacon? It’s like a potato chip made out of meat!’’ Bacon. Man, bacon is delicious!"

Emily's boyfriend Henry appears in her blog often:

"Once, I made fun of Henry for referring to “Project Runway” as “Project Gayway.” He worried that “people” — the shadowy, semi-imaginary people who read my blog and didn’t know Henry well enough to know that he wasn’t a homophobe — would be offended. He insisted that I take down the offending post and watched as I sat at my desk in our bedroom, slowly, grudgingly making the keystrokes necessary to delete what I’d written. As I sat there staring into the screen at the reflection of Henry standing behind me, I burst into tears. And then we were pacing, screaming at each other, through every room of our apartment, facing off with wild eyes and clenched jaws."

It appears that before Emily's debut in the NY Times hardly anyone read her blog.

Not any more; her anonymity is history. Her last blog post has 142 comments.

And her NY Times Magazine piece which is online but hasn't even hit the streets yet has garnered over 900 comments on 37 online pages, many of them scathing as only comments on nytimes.com can be. And infinitely more entertaining than Emily's ponderous screed.

Three of my favorites:

"Ms. Gould, there is a very good reason that we cannot read each other's thoughts. The disconnect between the brain and mouth often keeps us out of trouble. Since we are a social animals this is very important in maintaining social bonds in our society. Apparently the blog-generation has short circuited this needed disconnect by channeling every single worthless thought/idea straight to the World Wide Web.

Live and learn.
— Eric Simpson, Rahway, NJ

and

"To the 25 minutes I won't get back for reading this article, the minute or two it takes me to write this comment, and the next few hours I waste to see if I even get posted, let me add:

Those who can, do; those who can't, blog
— papercut61, Nevada"

and

"Always nice to see a young person's journey to new insights.

Always depressing when those turn out to be what is obvious to a ten year old.

A tip, Ms Gould: masturbation in public is never in good taste. and tends to lose its charm as you get older.
— D Donaldson, Toronto"

The piece has already stirred up a shit storm among some members of the journalism community and New York's effete and elite who are carping about why The New York Times would turn over prime print real estate to someone as narcissistic and self-absorbed as Emily. But then I'm guessing that a lot of writers who get in The New York Times Magazine belong in that category.

I wonder if Miami has an equivalent of Emily Gould? Probably.



By the way, here's some great video of Emily sparring with Jimmy Kimmel about her work at Gawker.com. They kind of ganged up on her but, hey, she's a big girl!

I agree, totally!

photo: Lisa Poole / AP

"Please, please do what you can to cure the verbal virus that seems increasingly rampant among your generation."

DAVID MCCULLOUGH -
Pulitzer Prize-winning author, imploring Boston College's 2008 graduates to cut back on using words such as like, awesome and actually

-from TIME.com

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough has a suggestion for what young people can do for their countries. "Please, please do what you can to cure the verbal virus that seems increasingly rampant among your generation," McCullough implored Boston College's class of 2008 at commencement ceremonies. He said he is particularly troubled by the "relentless, wearisome use of words" such as like, awesome and actually. "Just imagine if in his inaugural address John F. Kennedy had said, 'Ask not what your country can, you know, do for you, but what you can, like, do for your country actually," he said. Graduates apparently thought his speech was, like, awesome. They gave him a standing ovation.

Going from bad to worse

So tonight we get word that the Herald might be getting ready to lay off 230 employees. It's just a rumor but rumors these days at the Herald have a way of becoming painful reality.

What's not a rumor is that the Herald's parent company McClatchy is struggling to get costs in line and reduce debt.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram--McClatchy owned--announced today that it's selling an "annex building" connected to its main building and some parking lots it owns.

Also today McClatchy announced that it has bought back some $300 million of its publicly traded bonds.

"The buyback was supposed to total $250 million but was expanded because so many bondholders were interested in selling their notes back to the company."

Kind of reminds you of those old silent movies where people are trapped in a snowbound cabin and start burning the furniture to stay warm.

The Herald's had a "For Sale" sign on the property directly in front of its building for some time.

McClatchy headquarters must also be a very depressing place to work. Just go to Google and type in
"McClatchy" and "debt."

As far as layoffs the Herald can't afford to lose any more people without completely sacrificing quality which is practically non-existent at this point.

Consider this headline (see below) on a story tonight on their website. The story was clearly about some sort of celebration in Little Haiti over the weekend but the headline writer's thoughts and head were in another place. Literally.

Right now my sources describe the Herald as a ship without a rudder. Morale, as I've written before, is rock bottom. Many people there are going through the motions.

Some care deeply about their craft and the predicament they are in.

Others couldn't care less and are stuck in the past.

I recently spoke with one very popular columnist and told this person that if I was in charge they'd be writing a blog.

Response? "I don't have time to write a blog; I'm busy writing my column and checking stuff all day."

Keep in mind that this person produces exactly two 700 word columns a week, period.

There are other problems as well. Photographers are working with malfunctioning cameras because there's literally no money to buy new ones or get the existing cameras fixed.

So while the word of 230 layoffs is just a rumor at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the rumor turned out to be true.

Heard something interesting? Email me your tips!

Just a thought

Is it just me or does it sometimes seem that all of the big shots in this town at any given time are either under investigation, indicted, convicted, awaiting trial, on trial, entering prison or leaving prison?

Consider this short item on the Herald's website today:

The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office dropped 25 counts of gambling and related charges this week against erstwhile Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Jay Love, owner of Hooligans in Pinecrest.
Love's attorney, Ben Kuehne, said Love resolved some administrative issues he had with state regulators and "the state determined that was sufficient resolution."
Love made an unsuccesful bid for county mayor in 2004.

While Jay Love may be out of the woods, his lawyer Ben Kuehne has his own problems and when all is said and done he may belong in more than one of the categories above.

Pictures you won't soon forget!

Some of the year's best photography from all over the world.
PDN Photo Annual 2008.

caption for picture above:
Photographer: David Maitland
Title: Bush Meat
Description: In their preparation for the bush meat trade, monkeys are thrown onto open fires to burn off their fur prior to being sold at food markets throughout central West Africa. Despite being banned, the consumption of bush meat remains popular and presents a serious threat to both wildlife and humans‹the wildlife is threatened with extinction and humans run the risk of contracting deadly diseases like Ebola and HIV. This is a picture of the Gabon Black Colobus monkey. Food Market, Libraville, Gabon.

caption for picture above:

Photographer: Stephen Shore
Title: A Little Bit Country
Concept: Ocala, Florida's last great rural enclave.
Publication: T: The New York Times Style Magazine
Photo Editor: (Senior) Judith Puckett-Rinella
Art Director: (Creative) Janet Froelich, (Senior) David Sebbah, Chris Martinez
Designer: (Senior) Elizabeth Spiridakis

Unopposed, so far

Miami Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez, in a bid for a second term, showed up at a fundraiser Tuesday night at the home of a supporter on Miami Beach.

So far, no one has filed to challenge him which is probably why he was in such a good mood. With him is Miami Beach mayor Matti Bower who provided a few laughs.

Just shut the f**k up!

Chutzpah!!!...from a Miami Herald story on the arrest of a murder suspect who was thrown out of Mansion after it was discovered he was carrying a knife:

"We are pleased that Mansion's vigilant security played an integral role in apprehending this individual, and that our work with Miami Beach police helps to keep our community safe," Mansion spokeswoman Vanessa Menkes said in a statement.

For that ambidextrous bit of spin, this cup's for you Vanessa!

The Herald: English skills preferred but not mandatory - cont.

Actually it's "smoky" not "smokey" unless we're talking about a bear!

Newspapers...more bad news

A new round of buy-outs at the Washington Post has cleared "the newsroom of 100 more bodies."

"How does that affect me?" you say, "I read the Miami Herald."

Well, if a paper as important and influential as the Washington Post has to resort to such drastic measures to get costs in line, can the Herald be far behind?

The answer is you ain't seen nothing yet! I'm predicting more bad news for the Herald. Soon. The hard truth is that the Herald can ill afford to lose any more experienced people; they're running on fumes now.

And The Post is not alone. The New York Times is also in the midst of offering buyouts to key staffers.

The troubling thing about this round of buyouts is the fact that very experienced journalists are being shown the door.

Newspapers are in critical condition. I never went to medical school but I know that when a patient is on life support you don't cure the illness by ripping out the patient's heart.

Stay tuned.

NYT review of Hiaasen's golf book - Ouch!

The New York Times has a review Carl Hiaasen's golf book, “The Downhill Lie” in the paper today.

It's the second review of his book in the Times in two weeks.

He's probably wishing that they'd stopped with the first.

Carl Hiaasen is a great journalist and a great writer but odds were some point he was going to roll snake eyes or least bogey with one of his books.

Don't worry about Carl. He can do no wrong here in Miami and the book is #9 on the NYT bestseller list. He'll be be just fine.

But he'll probably wince when he reads these lines in Janet Maslin's review today:

"Who wants to read sentences like this: 'In the midst of butchering a long par-4, I improbably holed out a full 7-iron for a birdie?'"

"Who cares to discover that the shaft of one of Mr. Hiaasen’s golf clubs is whippy?"

"Who wants to be prey to the Father’s Day hucksterism of Mr. Hiaasen’s pretty little pink-and-green gift item for golfers, 'The Downhill Lie?'"

"The ordinarily snappy author now identifies himself as a golf-loving grandpa with a bum knee, an apparent midlife crisis and a cadre of Knopf editors happy to indulge him in “The Downhill Lie” as a boondoggle. One of them played golf with Mr. Hiaasen. Another kept reminding the writer that the worse he played, the more amusingly he could write. His material was skimpy enough for him to write the Knopf people into his story."

OUCH!!

However, for the same amount of money Janet Maslin got for writing that review I could have given the Times a much briefer and snappier review of the book. It probably would have gone something like this:

"The only thing more boring than playing or watching golf is reading about it. Period!"

The Herald: English skills preferred but not mandatory

Click to enlarge

Lincoln Road rules of etiquette

Just a few observations from a sweltering Lincoln Rd. on Sunday.
Who can blame this guy for walking down Lincoln Rd. chugging a cold, frosty Heineken from a paper bag? It was hot as hell Sunday! But if that's what you want to do please be discreet and try not to draw attention to yourself. However that's a bit of a challenge when you're 6'5" tall and screaming drunken profanities at passersby.

By all means bring your dog for a walk on Lincoln Rd. but please don't do this. Dogs aren't babies or little children and behavior like this, in the eyes of some, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Dogs like (and need) to walk and explore and scratch and sniff. Actually had it been up to me I would have let the drunk guy go and arrested this woman.

Hemingway and Sting...so similar

from the Miami Herald review by Michael Hamersley of Sting's concert in West Palm Beach Saturday night:

"The bearded Sting, who's pushing 60, looked cool and youthful, a bit like Hemingway in a cut-off black T-shirt."

Hemingway: Great writer but reportedly drank a quart of whiskey a day the last 20 years of his life.

Sting: Physically fit, vegan, practices yoga and was an avid runner.

Yeah Michael, great analogy...they are so similar! And if I didn't know better I'd say they were separated at birth!


thanks to Tamara for the heads up

Time to lawyer up!

One of Texas's most prominent personal injury attorneys was in critical condition Friday after being hurt when a fire engine struck his Bentley in Oak Lawn.