Bond, James Bond: 50 years as a movie icon

Bond, James Bond, celebrates 50 years as a movie icon



  'Goldfinger' opening shot (1964) ... filmed at the Fontainebleau Hotel

The way we were...South Beach's 'Bucket of Blood' closes - 1986

Tommy's Deck Bar, 627 Fifth St. (1980)
Photograph by Walter Smalling via the Library of Congress.

September, 1986: Tommy's Deck Bar, South Beach's "most dangerous bar," closes.

A NEIGHBORHOOD BAR DIES

Sunday, September 21, 1986

by IRENE LACHER, Herald Staff Writer

Tommy's Deck Bar, a draw for drug dealers and prostitutes that was once dubbed "the neighborhood bucket of blood" by its owner, was due to close at dawn today.

Bernie Toll, who owns the controversial bar, at 627 Fifth St., said he decided to shut it down because police were preparing to have his liquor license pulled.

"Rather than have them go through all this unnecessary, embarrassing type of legal actions, I felt that it was in the best interest of the neighborhood and my best interest to walk out clean."

Police have answered 168 calls at Tommy's this year alone. Complaints from neighbors prompted undercover officers to compile evidence of drug deals there, police say. And when Patrol Maj. Jack Mackie and Mayor Alex Daoud inspected the bar on Thursday, Daoud called Toll, who promptly announced he would close the bar .

"Basically the biggest problem was drug dealing," Mackie said. "That was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"It's long overdue," Daoud said. "That place has been an absolute cesspool for crime and criminal activity. I'm hoping we'll start closing down a lot more of these bars ."

On Friday afternoon, a handful of regulars drank at the faded Art Deco bar whose walls were designed to resemble a luxurious cruise ship. An owner who boxed at Madison Square Garden lent his name to the nearly 50-year-old bar , which once played host to such lights as Jimmy Durante and Dean Martin.

Customers idling over beers said they'd miss Tommy's, which evolved into one of the most dangerous bars in town.

"The bums will be depressed," said Diane Donlon. "I'm depressed myself. The poor misfits, where are they going to go?"

But even Tommy's biggest boosters acknowledged that the place turned into a nest for hookers and drug dealers at night.

"You wouldn't want to tangle with the people who come in here at night," Donlon said. "Real scumbags."

Said Toll: "I bought it because redevelopment was going through and I wanted to own a bar down in redevelopment. And then redevelopment went into the toilet and slowly my bar became the toilet. If I cleaned out my bar I would have no customers."

Despite it all, Toll waxed nostalgic about the bar he bought nine years ago.

"Years ago I had some pretty nice skid row characters there who were very pleasant. I shouldn't say skid row. Damon Runyon- type characters. It was fun, the bragging and lying that went on because every customer was either an ex-ballplayer or an entrepreneur or a corporate executive.

"But, in actual fact, they were all working stiffs who used to fantasize. I used to chuckle to myself that they were really nice people. They either died or moved on."

Best presidential debate Tweet

How the presidential debate might have been more entertaining via @ericgrant....

After watching Marc Caputo question Sen. Marco Rubio, I'm convinced Rubio is guilty of something

Marc Caputo

Last year, I offered this free advice to Florida politicians:

If you're under criminal investigation and a reporter confronts you with a video camera...for God's sake, don't run.

Especially if that reporter is the Miami Herald's Marc Caputo. Running away while you're being filmed by Caputo just makes you look twice as guilty.

Today, I'd like to amend that advice to include politicians who happen to be close friends of politicians under criminal investigation.

Watch what happened yesterday when Caputo showed up at the Versailles Restaurant with a video camera and tried to interview Marco Rubio about the ongoing criminal investigation of his buddy, Rep. Ravid Rivera.

Caputo wrote in a blog post:

Sen. Marco Rubio preferred to get rained on Monday than answer questions about a criminal investigation into his long-time friend and ally, Congressman David Rivera.

In that short 90 second clip, Caputo manages to put Rubio on the defensive and one gets the impression that Rubio is the one under investigation, and not Rivera.

But, with a friend like David Rivera, who can blame Rubio for getting nervous and defensive when someone shoves a camera in his face?

Rubio now joins a small, but exclusive club of politicians who have been "interrogated" by Caputo and lived to tell the tale.

Here are two more Caputo Classics:


Nov., 2011: Caputo asks Herman Cain about the Cuban refugee "wet-foot, dry-foot policy."


Aug., 2009: Caputo grills Denis Morales, who as Chief of Staff to Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez, was making more than the governor of Florida.

'Broke' premieres tonight on ESPN

"You got champagne taste, but you only got beer money. That's not good!" -Herman Edwards, former NFL cornerback

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Tonight at 8pm on ESPN: From the producers of "Cocaine Cowboys" and "the U," comes "Broke."

From ESPN.com:

According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 60 percent of NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. For 78 percent of NFL players, it takes only three years. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, many pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar and Andre Rison, as well as Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature can carry them to victory on the field and ruin off it.

Director Billy Corben and producer Alfred Spellman (The U, Cocaine Cowboys, Limelight) paint a complex picture of the many forces that drain athletes' bank accounts, placing some of the blame on the culture at large while still holding these giants accountable for their own hubris. A story of the dark side of success, "Broke," is an allegory for the financial woes haunting economies and individuals all over the world.

Wall Street Journal "Bankruptcy Beat" blog: Pro Athletes Go ‘Broke’ in New ESPN Documentary

Note to police officers everywhere! [UPDATED x2]

UPDATED at 1:20pm, Oct. 1, 2012 - Philly.com has identified the officer:

Law enforcement sources identified the officer as Lt. Jonathan Josey, a 19-year veteran of the force who is currently assigned to Highway Patrol unit. Josey was cited for bravery by the Citizens Crime Commission for fatally shooting an armed robber in 2010 while he was off-duty. Josey happened to walk into a Bala Cynwyd 7-Eleven in 2010 while Kenneth DeShields, an Iraq war veteran, was holding up the store. He was cleared of any charges in the incident.
[...]
City Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez, a central organizer of the parade, said she spoke with Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey this morning, and that Ramsey was particularly upset because the incident involved a commanding officer.

UPDATED at 1:00pm, Oct. 1, 2012 - Philly.com has this update:

Police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers said the department is "fully aware" of the video and what it depicts. He said the officer involved has been identified and Internal Affairs opened up an investigation in to the incident this morning. He said Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who is in San Diego at a conference, is also aware of the video.

Evers declined to publicly identify the officer, but did say he is a supervisor in Highway Patrol. He did not know if the officer had been placed on desk duty.

Police also declined to identify the woman, who was given a disorderly conduct citation for the incident. According to Evers, the 39-year-old woman's citation states "liquid and some other objects were thrown at a group of officers causing a large crowd."

She was the only person given a citation for the incident, Evers said.

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Almost three years ago I passed along this friendly advice to cops everywhere:

In case you haven't noticed, there are more cameras being carried by more people than ever before in history.

So if you're planning on packing heat at the next neighborhood snowball fight; you might want to rethink. Your random act of stupidity might end up being flashed around the world for all the world to see.

But as you can see in the video above, some of you weren't paying attention.

From ViralVideos.com:

Gisela Valentin caught a horrifying act of police brutality of camera that would otherwise be brushed under a rug. A man with a water bottle can be seen spraying what’s left of his on a group of police.

The actual ‘water guy’ walks away, but when the (assuming) sergeant (or officer of even higher rank) turns around, he immediately assumes it was a woman who sprayed him with water. Worse yet, instead of properly arresting her, he sucker punched her right in the face!

Not only that, but it is obvious from the evidence that lower ranking officers saw that she was not the culprit. As the woman is being hauled away, you can see the blood dripping from her face.

Philadelphia Police Sergeant Punches Woman In The Face Puerto Rican Day Parade