Lincoln Road Antique Market tomorrow

Another Lincoln Road Antique Market takes place tomorrow, Jan. 2.

And the weather outlook? Do you have to ask?

Here are the remaining dates for 2011.

See you there!

Who needs a Big Orange when you got a big ol' Moon Pie?

This is how they do it in Mobile Alabama!

A 12-foot electrified Moon Pie descended on schedule at midnight, wowing thousands of onlookers who came to see what the fuss was about.

At the foot of the RSA-BankTrust Building, the epicenter of the party, it was packed shoulder to shoulder. The O’Jays belted out “Auld Lang Syne” as the Moon Pie descended and the clock ticked down.

Happy New Year!

Miami media hits and misses

For my last post of the year I thought I'd share a few things that caught my eye in local media coverage of stories in South Florida this past year.

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A Miami Herald staffer, who's also a regular reader of this blog, has mentioned to me more than once that I spend too much time writing negatively about the paper.

With that in mind, I thought it would be nice to end the year on a positive note. Here's a roster of Herald writers whose work makes me sit up a take notice. The list is by no means complete.

Mathew Haggman and Martha Brannigan

Whether they're writing about desk drawers full of cash at Miami-Dade's Transit agency, Miami-Dade's mayor and commissioners sticking it to the taxpayers, or county hall's most ethically challenged commissioner, the reporting by Herald writers Martha Brannigan and Matthew Haggman is, month in and month out, Pulitzer worthy. It's just that good.

Carol Rosenberg

Rosenberg is the Miami Herald's Guantanamo reporter. The Columbia Journalism Review recently called her "The Record Keeper."

[“Rosenberg’s] daily accounts are what you need to read to understand Guantánamo 101,” says Karen Greenberg, executive director of New York University’s Center on Law and Security and the author of The Least Worst Place: Guantánamo’s First 100 Days. “She’s still the only person who can contextualize what’s going on. Carol has been the consistent presence.”

Ellie Brecher

If you get word that Ellie is researching a story on you, be afraid, be very afraid - and then make an appointment to see a doctor right away.

But many of Ellie's subjects don't get that chance, because by the time she sits down to hammer out their story, they've left this world.

Ellie is the Herald's obituary and feature writer.

She's also one of the paper's most gifted and versatile writers.

Explaining the late radio icon Neil Rogers to her readers she wrote: "He sprinkled his stream-of-consciousness patter with Yiddish phrases, introducing that language to thousands of listeners who wouldn't know gefilte fish from garbanzo beans."

And last November, Ellie - who also happens to be an animal lover - wrote of a diving competition for dogs at the Homestead Miami Speedway.

While top NASCAR drivers zoomed around the track at Homestead Miami Speedway on Friday, enthusiastic wet dogs went the distance in a 25,000-gallon portable pool just outside the stands.

Except for Jake, a 6-year-old rat terrier who didn't quite get the concept of dock jumping...

Patricia Mazzei, Scott Hiaasen, Jay Weaver and David Ovalle

Mazzei, Hiaasen, Weaver and Ovalle capped off the year with a great story in this morning's paper on the mounting tension between Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado and Police Chief Miguel Exposito. Fascinating stuff that proved not all year-end stories have to be boring.

That takes care of the Herald.

Now let's take a look at South Florida TV news.

Nor much to be proud of here.

With a few exceptions, most of South Florida's TV news operations seem to be in a constant competition to see which one of them can churn out the most cliché-ridden, overblown and unintentionally hilarious presentation of South Florida news.

Cats stuck in trees, puppies trapped in drains, missing kids, perp walks galore, blood and gore and whatever ideas they can steal from the Herald...it's just a click away at 5, 6, 10 and 11pm.

One exception is Channel 10's senior political reporter Michael Putney.

Putney - who just celebrated his 70th birthday - has spent almost half of those years in South Florida, working first at the Miami Herald and then WTVJ before landing at Channel 10. The Herald once said of Putney: “[He] brings to his stories what no reporter can buy, manufacture or learn in school: experience. He knows this town.” 'Nuff said.

And now for the low lights.

There were really too many to list here.

But, if you caught any of the coverage of the recent cold snap on the local stations, then you know where this is going.

Back in early December, as we braced for unseasonably cold temps, every station - without exception - went into panic mode.

Listening to the coverage, you might have been led to believe that if you survived the first night of cold weather you'd still have to deal with mammoth glaciers blocking all of our major roadways and streets littered with frozen corpses of those who were too dumb to heed the warnings to "dress in layers."

But for sheer entertainment, it was hard to beat WSVN reporter Vanessa Medina's live shot on December 6th.

Standing on East Las Olas Blvd. wearing a knit cap and bulky scarf, she gripped the mike and stared solemnly into the camera and warned viewers to brace for the worst. The words were barely out of her mouth when an elderly couple wandered into camera range behind her wearing short-sleeved shirts.

But it gets worse. After her taped report aired, Medina appeared on camera again with a final. somber warning, "And parents, if you have young children going to school in the morning, make sure they're wearing a jacket before they leave the house."

Kind of makes one wonder if the folks at Channel 7 really think their audience is that stupid. Wait! I think I know the answer!

Congratulations Vanessa! You're the recipient of this year's "Nanook of the North Award."

Miami's "Snake Man" is 100 years old today

From the Miami News, Aug. 23, 1964

Ten years ago, Miami herpetologist Joe Wasilewski was working with a documentary film crew on a piece about 90 year-old Bill Haast, the legendary former owner of Miami Serpentarium.

Wasilewski recalls that a member of the crew asked Haast - who has been bitten by poisonous snakes at least 173 times - if he thought that snake venom prolonged life. "Ask me when I'm 100," Haast replied dryly.

Ten years later Bill Haast is alive and well and living in Punta Gorda, FL where he runs Miami Serpentarium Laboratories.

Today is his 100th birthday.

In Aug. 2006, when Haast was 95, Miami Herald reporter Luisa Yanez wrote that the "Miami Snakeman" was still injecting himself with snake venom. Yanez quoted Haast as saying: ''I could become a poster boy for the benefits of venom. If I live to be 100 I'll really make the point.''

Over the years, Miami newspapers have chronicled Haast's frequent brushes with death.

In Feb. 1949, the Miami Daily News reported that Haast, then 38, had been bitten by a Mexican water moccasin.

In Feb. 1961, after Haast was bitten for the 67th time, he told the Miami News: "Let's hope it was the last."

It wasn't.

In Sept. 1970, Haast was bitten - number 112 - by a Malayan pit viper.

Happy birthday Mr. Haast!

A tale of two tragedies

Sometimes, the search for a major news story in the pages of the Miami Herald can be just as futile as George W. Bush's hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

But I was certain that the story of the tragic deaths Monday of 5 Little Haiti teens in a Hialeah motel would be different. Surely, I thought, this was a story that would dominate much of the Herald's front page yesterday.

I was wrong.

Herald editors buried six paragraphs of an excellent story on the tragedy by staff writers Laura Isensee, Diana Moskovitz and Nadege Charles in the bottom right-hand corner of Tuesday's paper. The rest of the story was moved inside, presumably to protect younger or easily-offended readers.

Editors at the paper apparently thought a weather story and a story on the state's dying dog racing industry were more important and compelling.

In addition to the three Herald writers who worked on the story, staff photographer Carlos Guerrero also provided top-notch still and video coverage. For some unknown reason, not one of Guerrero's gripping photos made the pages of the paper.

One wonders if the story might have been played more prominently had the 5 young men lived in Pinecrest or if they had attended school at Gulliver Prep.

The story also offers news watchers an inside glimpse into the decision making processes at not just our local paper, but also the national media.

A search of Google New reveals a little over 800 links to stories on the Hialeah deaths. A 65-word AP dispatch was posted on the New York Times website.

By comparison, a ski lift accident that injured 8 people yesterday at the Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Maine has over 2,000 links on Google News.

And cable news channels, which barely mentioned the Hialeah story, have been running hourly stories on the ski lift accident. Fortunately for CNN, one of their employees just happened to be at Sugarloaf and witnessed the incident. Use your imagination to figure out how overblown their coverage has been.

And unlike Miami Herald editors, Maine newspaper editors know how to play an important story.

Coverage of the "Sugarloaf Tregedy" dominated the front pages of Maine's 5 major dailies today!


Click image to enlarge

-front page images via Newseum.org

"It's just a radio show!"

Anyone who ever listened to long-time South Florida radio talk-meister Neil Rogers recognizes that line.

That's how Neil often described his show if anyone was clueless enough to ask him to explain it.

Either you got it or you didn't.

And if you didn't, he didn't much care. "That's what the off switch is for," he would say.

Tens of thousands of "Neilies" no doubt recalled that line as they heard the news of Neil's death today.

If you're a "Neilie" you also don't need any explanation for phrases such as Phish Food, Publix bag boys, douchebag, Howard from Boca, Boca Burgers, Boca Brian, Guitar man, the "I'm dyin' over here" guy, Happy Purim, the "Thanks for calling lady," harness racing or the legendary Bridge Tender.

I listened to Neil for over 25 years.

And as a photojournalist, I was assigned twice to photograph him at the WIOD studios.

The first time was for a Canadian wire service story on Neil. They were profiling Neil because of his relentless attacks on French Canadian visitors to South Florida.

I called his producer and he said to drop by the studio. I walked in during a commercial break and Neil looked at me and asked "what is this for?" I told him that Canadian Press was doing a story on him because of his jokes about French Canadians. Without missing a beat he responded, "Those aren't jokes."

The second time was in 1990 when I was assigned to shoot him for a St. Petersburg Times story.

I arrived at the studio - and much to Neil's chagrin - began setting up lights because I was shooting very slow transparency film. I could tell that Neil was bothered by all the equipment but he never said a word.

At one point during a commercial break, I said to Neil - referring to the callers - "It's not a very good show today, is it?" He didn't respond.

I stayed until almost the end of the show and then packed up my gear and went downstairs, loaded my car and drove away. I switched on the radio to see if he would say anything about me.

I didn't have to wait long. As he was signing off, he said something like, "And if the photographer is listening, I hope tomorrow's show is better."

While Neil's show defied description, Times staff writer Rick Bragg probably came pretty close when he wrote, "his top-rated call-in show has been a sort of mirror for Miami and South Florida, a reflection of its mind-set."

Over the years, I listened to Neil religiously. My job as a news photographer required me to be on the road all the time.

On more than one occasion I can remember pulling into a 7-11 to grab and snack and passing by a delivery truck in the parking lot with the driver relaxing inside and listening to Neil. That was Neil's audience; regular working men and women.

I learned the news of Neil's death today when Miami Herald obituary writer Ellie Brecher called to tell me. We didn't talk long because she had to get back to writing Neil's obit.

But Ellie took the the time to call me because she knows that I'm a "Neilie."

Here's a little secret: Ellie's a "Neilie" too.

(Keep that in mind as you read her story later today.)

As I decided to write this post, I called her back and asked her why she liked Neil so much. "He was funny! And incredibly intelligent," she said. She continued, "and he didn't have any patience for pompous or self-important people."

Later, by email, Ellie told me, "He called me 'the psychotic bitch from the Herald,' and a 'yenta,' but he liked me."

And we liked you too, Neil.

RIP Neil...and thanks for laughs!