Monday, February 08, 2010

Here we go again!


Miami "photographer" Carlos Miller, - who admits on occasion to being an a**hole (says so right there on his blog) - was up to his old tricks again this weekend.

Miller, who calls himself a "photojournalist," was out on Lincoln Road when he spied a booth offering free cigarette samples. Miller took it upon himself to confront the people manning the booth - who were probably making all of $10 an hour - because of a sign that prohibited the taking of photos.

More on that later.

Miller was born and raised in Miami some 42 years ago. A few years ago he did everyone in town a favor and left.

But unfortunately he returned to Miami....crawling out of a sewer somewhere with a major chip on his shoulder.

Miller celebrated his return by getting himself arrested almost three years ago. Not for breaking any real law; but for being an a**hole.

Miller, who says he's worked as a police reporter, has apparently never heard of the old saying, "You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride [to jail.]"

Did Miller learn from the unpleasant experience of spending hours in jail, going through an unnecessary and costly trial and spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer?

No.

He got arrested again on Miami Beach last year during Memorial Day weekend for virtually the same thing he was arrested for three years ago.

Miller has some unexplained yet powerful compulsion to prove what many of us already know: People in authority sometimes abuse power. We get it Carlos. But you just go right on and keep getting arrested to prove your point! Attaboy, you da man!!

After Miller's last arrest..as he was sitting in the prisoner van in handcuffs, the arrest report says he told the cops, "I just wanted to see how far I could [push you.]" He found out.

This past weekend, Miller was out strolling on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road, again looking for trouble.

He found it in the form of a Camel cigarette booth that bore a sign saying, "NO PHOTO OR VIDEO."

Miller blogged about the incident and in doing so revealed a heretofore unknown factoid about himself: Apparently his camera is an extension of his penis! (Not unlike some men who carry a gun to make up for their...**cough cough** shortcomings!)
And to my surprise, they both walked towards me as if they were going to physically stop me from taking these photos.

Then they stopped in front of me, perhaps realizing that a physical confrontation wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do.

I asked them where they got off on ordering people not to take photos from a public sidewalk.

They replied that they are “just asking people not to take photos.”

I told them that didn’t appear to be a mere suggestion but a direct order. And I asked them what they had to hide besides the obvious; which was the fact that they were trying to entice young adults into a lifelong habit of smoking cigarettes.

Situations like this make me realize that I desperately need to get the Canon 5D Mark II which would allow me to switch immediately from still photos to video in less than a second to fully capture the intimidation tactics.
Miller's attempt to shoot video of the "intimidation tactics" was stymied by his lack of a camera with a video function.

But then he goes on to say,
"The Camel thing itself is a joke. If it were really a big deal, I would have snapped their photos and I would have pulled out my small video camera.

Instead I took the photo to make a point, then kept walking."
Don't fret Carlos. I'm not sure about that video mode but I do hear that Canon has designed special a camera for photographers just like you!

Click image to enlarge

2 comments:

  1. Maybe misguided towards the hired brand ambassadors, but it will probably get up to the brand managers who will think twice about the legality/enforcement of that sign. I work in onsite/event marketing and know how anal and worried these people get.

    But anyway, why so angry with Carlos? He's fighting people lying to others about their rights.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gee, Bill. It's great that you can rise to the occasion and elevate the conversation, just like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

    Nice job.

    Really.

    ReplyDelete

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