Miami Marine Stadium update

image via sphereboy's Flickr feed
Last week the Miami Herald's Andres Viglucci reported that the "cost of repairing the historic but deteriorated Miami Marine Stadium could be substantially lower than previous estimates, according to a new engineering study."

image via sphereboy's Flickr feed
The structure, which was completed in 1964, has sat idle since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Many old time Miamians attended concerts, speedboat races and religious services at the stadium before it was closed.


Last year Viglucci reported that the stadium made the New York-based "World Monuments Fund's list of endangered places for 2010 -- along with Macchu Picchu and the gingerbread houses of Port-au-Prince."

The Fund thinks the stadium is worth preserving because, "it defined a significant shift in American architectural style from staid civic buildings to exuberant structures reflecting changing tastes and a desire to project the city as a forward-looking place."


"The 7,000-seat stadium was also given historic status last year by the Dade Heritage Trust," and its restoration is a chief priority for Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado's administration according to the Herald.


The stadium, designed by Spillis Candela DMJM, is often cited as an example of a style of architecture that saw buildings constructed with "exposed raw concrete, great blocks of it, precast or molded into severe geometries or swooping," Viglucci wrote in the Herald in 2007.

Anyway, all of this gives me a chance to post some black and white pictures I shot back in the mid-80's (exact date unknown) of a Tony Bennett concert.


Also posted here are some great shots that show the stadium in 2002 from Robert's (aka sphereboy) Flickr feed.

Now everybody has one of those 'Palm Pilots'

Watch CBS News Videos Online

A question for Republicans

What does it say about the state of your party and your hopes to take back the White House in 2012, when every time your "brightest star" appears before the cameras, she looks like she's in a Saturday Night Live skit...playing herself?



And is it just me, or did Sarah Palin bear a striking resemblance - in more ways than one - to Lily Tomlin's character, Edith Ann, as she sat in that big chair in Nashville last Saturday night?





So, who thinks Palin would make a great president? Click here to find out!

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

Set your radio dial....

I've been going back and forth by email with Rosalin Luetum, a publicist at WNYC Radio, who wants all my readers to know that The Takeaway, a national morning drive new program, co-produced by WNYC and PRI, in collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times and WGBH Boston, started airing in Miami this week on 91.3 WLRN from 9-10am weekdays!

I missed the first few shows. But Rosalin tells me that Thursday's Miami guest is Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat.

Friday’s guests are Miami Herald photographer Carl Juste and Luis Rios, former Herald director of photography, discussing the tangled relationship of Haitians and Cubans in photos.

Tune in or miss out!

But don't fret. If you miss a show, you can listen to a past show or segment by going to the show's site. For instance, today's show is archived here.

Marc Sarnoff is a big, fat idiot!

You'd think that the folks who sit on the Miami city commission would have their hands full just keeping the wheels from coming off the wagon over at City Hall.

Just today we learn that, according to the Herald, "Miami employees spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars using city credit cards on DirecTV for a vehicle, binoculars to keep tabs on employee activities, even on a pink metallic dog collar."

It's an understatement to call Miami a Banana Republic.

Miami is so corrupt that on some days it makes the government of Somalia look positively functional by comparison.

But don't tell that to Commissioner Marc Sarnoff.

He's busy burnishing his image. Because, for a Miami politician that's a full-time job.

But let's start at the beginning.

The other day, the guy who publishes a blog called Coconut Grove Grapevine, posted an item about the ongoing debate that's taking place in the Grove surrounding a push by some to extend bar closing times from 3am to 5am.

(Commissioner Sarnoff apparently believes that if people can't get shit-faced enough by 3am, then they shouldn't be drinking in the first place.)

One of the blog's readers - calling himself "Marc Sarnoff" - posted a comment that took a shot at the real Sarnoff. The comment was clearly satirical, which should have been evident, even to someone as intellectually challenged as Sarnoff apparently is.

Dear City of Miami,

I fully support drinking and driving after 3am even if it claims the lives of others as long as your drunk driving does not take place in my neighborhood,

xoxo

Marc Sarnoff

What did Sarnoff do?

He did what any lawyer would do. He hired another lawyer, who in turn, fired off a threatening letter to the blogger.

On behalf of Commissioner Sarnoff, I demand that you remove and formally retract the defamatory and libelous statements immediately.

(We here at Random Pixels have seen these kinds of mountains-out-molehill letters from attorneys.)

Apparently Sarnoff - who is an attorney but who isn't gay - and his high-priced lawyer Jay Solowsky, didn't attend class in law school on the day the First Amendment and free speech were discussed. If they had, they would have learned that satire and parody are protected forms of speech, no matter how crude and outlandish. At least that's what the Supreme Court said. I assume you've heard of them Mr. Sarnoff?

Sarnoff could have done the sensible thing and contacted the blog owner and politely asked him to remove the offending comment.

But no! He had to come on like an a**hole; getting lots of richly desrved attention in the process.

Gus Garcia-Roberts at Miami New Times is also doing his part to make sure the pot gets stirred as much as possible.

In a post today on Riptide, Garcia-Roberts invited readers to "to do your best Marc Sarnoff impression in this comments section."

Marc Sarnoff says:
What are Boy-Shorts?

Posted On: Wednesday, Feb. 3 2010 @ 10:09AM

Way to go Marc! Now everyone knows that you're a total loser!