Lincoln Road Antique Market this Sunday

Check out the season finale of the Antique Market on Lincoln Road this Sunday, May 3.

The vendors will return as usual in the fall.

So this is your last chance - for a while - to partake in some of the best people watching in South Florida. And while you're there why not grab brunch or lunch at some of Lincoln Road's fine restaurants like The Cafe at Books & Books?

South Beach-USA tells you what else to expect.

As for the antique show itself, more than 100 vendors offer everything from vintage one-of-a-kind clothing to old hard-to-find magazines and books, jewelry and all manner of tchotchkes.

For Sale: Rare and out-of-print photography books

Selling many rare and out of print photography books including:

Tulsa. by Larry Clark. Lustrum Press, 1971. Orginal limited edition paperback in very good condition...This is not the Grove Press reprint! Rare-book dealers sell copies of this book for more than a thousand dollars. -$600.00


Andre Kertesz, Diary of Light, Diary of Light, 1912-1985. Photographs by André Kertész. Foreword by Cornell Capa. Essay by Hal Hinson. Edited by Susan Harder with Hiroji Kubota. Aperture, New York, 1987. 206 pp. First English edition limited to 3000 copies. Clothbound with photo-illustrated dust jacket. Folio. 152 black-and-white tritone reproductions. Includes detailed chronology. Dust jacket is scuffed; but cloth cover and book are bright, fine, and very clean copy. A truly magnificent book. -$550.00 (a copy of this book sold for $950 five years ago.)




Bullock, Wynn Bullock, 1971, Scrimshaw Press. 1st Edition. VG cond. with clear mylar dust jacket -$200.00


Ansel Adams-Yosemite and the Range of Light, New York Graphic Society, Little Brown TIME/LIFE books Date of Publication: 1981 Binding: Hard Cover, Signed by Author ,Ansel Adams, SIGNED special edition with signature of photographer on Bookplate with date 1981 Carmel, California -$250.00


Edward Weston, Fifty Years, by Ben Maddow, New York , Aperture, 1st, 1973, Book: Very Good, no DJ, 284 pages, beautifully reproduced plates of the photographer's work. Large format -$150.00


Naked City, by Weegee, Essential Books, 1945. Original printing, hardcover, no DJ. Very good cond. tight binding, clean pages. A classic! Rare. -$150.00


SOLD! Hurrell - Hollywood Photographs 1928-1990. By Hurrell, George, hardcover 1st US edition 1992 St. Martin's Press. ISBN: 0312082207. 200pgs, 140 duotone photographs. Large hardback/Dust Jacket FINE/FINE -$150.00


Conversations with the Dead - Danny Lyon - 1970 - 1st edition - Holt Rinehart Winston paperback. Cover starting to separate. Otherwise Good clean pages, unmarked, no tears. Oversize paperback. Good, clean copy of scarce title. -$125.00


Self Portrait USA by David Douglas Duncan, Abrams 1969, hardcover. Turquoise cloth binding with political symbols on frontboard in gold. Title on spine in gold. Photo illustrated endpapers and text pages are crisp and clean. Double page photo illustrated title page. The 1968 Republican convention in Miami and Democratic convention in Chicago are covered by a legedary phototojournalist. A classic example of political photo reportage. Over 325 fantastic photographs. Nice tight binding. -$125.00


Mrs. David Bailey, by David Bailey (photographer) Rizzoli 1980. Black and white photographic tribute by a legendary fashion photographer to his model wife. DJ. Good tight binding. $40.00


Helmut Newton, Work, Taschen, 2001, hardcover. Like new. $65.00


Helmut Newton, Portraits, Pantheon, 1987, 1st American edition hardcover in excellent condition, dust jacket clean and intact. -$80.00

Email me for more info!

Prosecutor blames mass shooting on Jim Defede

Veteran Miami Dade prosector Michael Von Zamft is blaming a weekend shooting that wounded five young men on CBS4's Jim DeFede says Miami New Times staff writer Tim Elfrink:

[T]he prosecutor working on the January case -- a veteran of the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office -- says he believes the latest attack was spurred by a news story by reporter Jim DeFede that aired Thursday on CBS4. Based on a description by an anonymous source, it clearly showed the family's address and criticized witnesses for not coming forward. "It is my personal opinion that this [Sunday] shooting was triggered by the DeFede piece," says Michael Von Zamft, an assistant state attorney. "Certainly that cannot be ruled out."

The New Times story doesn't make clear why Von Zamft singled out DeFede, since the mother, Lasonya Mills, also spoke on camera with other Miami TV news outlets.

Air Force One visits Miami

They're making a big deal out of the Air Force One flyover in New York City this morning.

What no one's talking about is the fact that AF1 did a similar flyover in Miami last week that apparently went unnoticed by everyone.

Circulation continues to plummet at the Herald

Circulation figures released today for the nation's newspapers are "showing that the largest metros continue to shed daily and Sunday circulation -- now at a record rate."

This also holds true for the Miami Herald. Editor and Publisher magazine reports, "daily circulation at The Miami Herald fell 15.8% to 202,122. Sunday is down 13.1% to 270,166."

However that reported daily number of 202,122 is slightly at odds with a Herald story from a month ago when the Herald's Andres Viglucci reported, "[el Nuevo Herald] circulation has been holding relatively steady as The Miami Herald's -- now at around 190,000 daily and 275,000 Sunday -- has plunged."

Is the Herald "fudging" their numbers?

The Herald, which was once the largest and most influential paper in the state, is now third in circulation behind the St. Petersburg Times and Orlando Sentinel. Yes, the Orlando Sentinel!

To see how the Herald's numbers stack up against other U.S. papers click here.

(Bob Norman of Broward New Times takes a look at the Herald's declining numbers here.)

I'm not sure what the business plan at the Herald is. Their circ numbers continue to decline along with the overall quality of the journalism they're producing.

The only thing I am certain of is that firing experienced journalists won't reverse the decline in circulation.

The Random Pixels Swine flu emergency plan!

And remember, don't panic!

Goodbyes at the Herald

Some 50 Miami Herald journalists - victims of the latest round of job cuts - said their final goodbyes yesterday.

Bob Norman has the farewell memo sent out to the newsroom by Senior Editor Mindy Marques.

A few names jumped out at me.

One being that of Georgia Tasker.

If some one's keeping a list of South Florida journalism icons, Georgia must be pretty close to the top.

She's been at the Herald for 40 years and has been the garden writer since 1979, writing elegantly about South Florida's gardens, ecology and all things green.

Another departure is that of Luis Rios, the Herald's director of photography.

Rios had only been at the Herald for 6 years, but his impact was felt last Monday when the Herald won yet another Pulitzer Prize for photography.

former Miami Herald director of photography Luis Rios
Knowledgeable insiders say it was Rios who prodded photographer Patrick Farrell to return to Haiti three times after his initial visit to that hurricane-ravaged country in September.

And it was also Rios - along with other photo editors - who fought with squeamish and vacillating higher ups, to get some of Farrell's more horrific pictures in the paper.

The resulting images shot by Farrell in his four trips earned him - and the Herald - a Pulitzer.

Rios's award? The loss of his job.

But fret not Herald readers; the paper still has a dance critic!

Today's front page stories

Stories making the front page of some of the nation's newspapers.

A high-tech tip, an old-school stakeout in Craigslist attacks -Boston Globe

Animal cruelty at a Wasilla, Alaska school -Anchorage Daily News

Two fifth-graders -- ages 10 and 11 -- arrested for selling pot at school -Indianapolis Star

Update on the Herald's local blog aggregator

Last night I commented that it's been a while since we heard anything about the Herald's plans to add a blog aggregator feature to their website.

Today I received this email:

We're the ones building the Herald's local blog aggregator. I build the database of local blogs by hand and right now we have about 200 or so on the list. I am hoping to vastly expand that. I still have a bunch more blogrolls to go through as well as the usual blog search engines, but if you can point me to any resources that will let me be as complete as possible, I'd appreciate it.

Also, I noticed you linked to our site with the Knoxville daily, we also have them at www.blognetnews.com/bgdailynews and blognetwork.expressmilwaukee.com and we're working on another one with Memphis. If you want to take a look at how those sites work, I'd value any suggestions or observations you have.

I am a big believer in the importance of the local blogosphere. For more than three years I have been preaching that every newspaper should be the place to find out what is being said in the local blogosphere about any topic as well as providing local blog search. It has been an uphill battle, but I think the Herald deserves some credit. They called me and they pulled the trigger when plenty of other papers have dithered endlessly.

If you want to post this invitation on your blog, feel free to make my email address public too. Folks who want to be included should send simply send me an email with their url and Miami in the subject line.

Best,
Dave
editor@blognetnews.com


David Mastio
Editor

BlogNetNews.com

Check out our latest at www.blognetnews.com/elections

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/blognetnews
Join our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22201676118

The Herald's Anders Gyllenhaal sends Random Pixels a "Dear John"

Miami Herald Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal sends Random Pixels a note:

"Bill, Please be so kind as to take me off your email list. I make it a point to keep up with informed and responsible criticism of the paper, which is invaluable. I can see that's not your interest when you find fault with virtually anything this dedicated, capable staff takes on. Anders"

Looks like the pressure is getting to him.

My response:

Thanks for your note Anders.

I call things the way I see 'em.

However you are mistaken on one point.

I don't always find fault with everything the Herald does.

Just when you screw up.

I guess you didn't take the time to read my post where I TRIED to call your paper and alert you to a major breaking story here on Miami Beach on April 6th only to be rebuffed by one of your editors.

However in that same post I praised the work of David Ovalle.

Or this post [also] on Ovalle's fantastic work.

And maybe you didn't see my post back in September praising the work of Pat Farrell.

And I guess you missed my piece that raved about the work that Tim Chapman does, day in and day out.

To say I always find fault is disingenuous.

And I'm sorry, I didn't get the memo you sent saying that bloggers should only post positive things about the Herald. Perhaps you can resend that.

I know things are bad over there...but please don't take it out on me.

By the way Anders, it looks like you guys missed another one. Or am I not allowed to say that?

Blogging matters

While poking around the Internet today I found a couple of items that pit bloggers against newspapers....which reminded me that the Herald still hasn't lived up to its promise to add a blog aggregator feature to its website. But more on that in the later.

Restaurant critic for The New York Daily News threatens suit against blogger when he parodies her on his blog and a fake Twitter page.

New York Times sends a cease and desist letter to a blogger demanding that he immediately remove the "All the News That's Fit to Eat" tagline from his blog.

Open letter to Herald executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal

...
More than a few Herald insiders have told me that they had to step over the "pools of blood" on the floor while attending yesterday's newsroom announcement of photographer Patrick Farrell's Pulitzer Prize win.

Why?

What your paper left out of the stories today is that one of the journalists instrumental in Farrell's win, director of photography Luis Rios, will leave the Herald forever on Friday.

Rios was a victim of the latest round of Herald job cuts when his position was eliminated by you. Another Herald staffer who helped put together Farrell's Pulitzer entry - photographer John VanBeekum - has also been let go by you.

As someone with more than just a passing knowledge of the inner workings of the paper, I wonder what exactly one has to do to keep his job at your paper?

It looks as though if you work hard and bring honor to the paper you get fired.

But if you sit on your ass, ignore phoned-in news tips and go to a lot of meetings, you get to keep your job.

So please excuse me Anders if I get a little queasy when I read your assurances that the Herald is here to stay. You may believe that but as I look at your face in the video above, your expression tells me something else.

And I wonder why there aren't more people on the fifth floor like Humberto Castelló, who resigned last month from El Nuevo Herald rather than stay and watch the destruction of his paper?

None of this is meant to take away anything from Pat Farrell's stunning work. But as you know, newspapering is a team effort.

I'm saddened to see the departure of part of that team. And sorry that in your eloquent newsroom speech yesterday, you didn't even have the spine to acknowledge their contribution to Farrell's win...or the paper.

History rewind

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein greets Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, in Baghdad on December 20, 1983.
I've been a little occupied for the past few days but I've been hearing some talk about a handshake.

Is this the handshake everyone is talking about?

No? That's not it?

Sorry!

Herald photographer Pat Farrell wins Pulitzer Prize

...

UPDATE: I spoke with Farrell by phone briefly this afternoon and asked him a few questions:

Did he think winning journalism's most prestigious award would change his life?

In what way he asked?

Well, I responded, maybe you'll be asked to speak to different groups.

Farrell responded that would only happen once. "After they hear me speak, I won't be asked to return," he said with a chuckle. Farrell also allowed that he doesn't have a "huge ego."

Today's announcement wasn't a total surprise.

He'd been tipped he might win and said that his parents drove down from Orlando to join him in the newsroom when the 3pm announcement was made. Also with Farrell was his wife Jodi and their two daughters, Annie, 10 and Lucy 8.

I asked him if he thought today of Franz Samedi, the grief stricken father he'd photographed clutching the body of his dead daughter in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

"He's hard to forget," said Farrell. "Those images are seared into my memory."

And everyone else too, Pat.

***********
At a few minutes past 3pm today, Miami Herald photographer Patrick Farrell's life changed forever.

That's when Farrell, 49, learned he'd won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News photography. The Pulitzer board's citation reads:

"Awarded to Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald for his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair after Hurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster in Haiti."

Farrell's Pulitzer is the 20th for the Herald since it was awarded its first Pulitzer in 1951, and the paper's fourth in this decade alone.

Miami Herald photographer Patrick Farrell
Farrell's Pulitzer entry contains images shot over the course of four reporting trips to Haiti following the devastating hurricanes that ravaged the island last year.

Luis Rios, the Herald's director of photography, says of Farrell's work:

''Patrick's photography is the most provocative and at times disturbing storytelling work that I have seen or edited."

Ironically, Rios's position as director of photography was eliminated in the last round of job cuts to sweep through the Herald.

And eight months ago I noted that Farrell's images were probably some of the most gripping and shocking ever published in the paper.

(Farrell's Haiti images can be seen here).

Back in September, Farrell called his wife from Haiti during a break and told her that the couple's two daughters weren't far from his mind as he worked.

I don't know Pat all that well, but I'm pretty sure he stopped for just a moment today to think about Frantz Samedi, (above) whose life also changed forever last September.

Today's front page stories

Here's today's selection of front page stories from newspapers across the U.S.

Columbine's grief lingers -Denver Post

Hattiesburg MS gets a new traffic signal -Hattiesburg American

Falcons prevent disaster by keeping birds out of the way of military planes -Newark Star Ledger

Raw milk draws fans, despite being illegal to sell -Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

FOR SALE: Rare and out-of-print photography books

Selling many rare and out of print photography books including:


Andre Kertesz, Diary of Light, Diary of Light, 1912-1985. Photographs by André Kertész. Foreword by Cornell Capa. Essay by Hal Hinson. Edited by Susan Harder with Hiroji Kubota. Aperture, New York, 1987. 206 pp. First English edition limited to 3000 copies. Clothbound with photo-illustrated dust jacket. Folio. 152 black-and-white tritone reproductions. Includes detailed chronology. Dust jacket is scuffed; but cloth cover and book are bright, fine, and very clean copy. A truly magnificent book. -$550.00 (a copy of this book sold for $950 five years ago.)




Bullock, Wynn Bullock, 1971, Scrimshaw Press. 1st Edition. VG cond. with clear mylar dust jacket -$200.00


Ansel Adams-Yosemite and the Range of Light, New York Graphic Society, Little Brown TIME/LIFE books Date of Publication: 1981 Binding: Hard Cover, Signed by Author ,Ansel Adams, SIGNED special edition with signature of photographer on Bookplate with date 1981 Carmel, California -$250.00


Edward Weston, Fifty Years, by Ben Maddow, New York , Aperture, 1st, 1973, Book: Very Good, no DJ, 284 pages, beautifully reproduced plates of the photographer's work. Large format -$150.00


Naked City, by Weegee, Essential Books, 1945. Original printing, hardcover, no DJ. Very good cond. tight binding, clean pages. A classic! Rare. -$150.00


Hurrell - Hollywood Photographs 1928-1990. By Hurrell, George, hardcover 1st US edition 1992 St. Martin's Press. ISBN: 0312082207. 200pgs, 140 duotone photographs. Large hardback/Dust Jacket FINE/FINE -$150.00


Conversations with the Dead - Danny Lyon - 1970 - 1st edition - Holt Rinehart Winston paperback. Cover starting to separate. Otherwise Good clean pages, unmarked, no tears. Oversize paperback. Good, clean copy of scarce title. -$125.00


Self Portrait USA by David Douglas Duncan, Abrams 1969, hardcover. Turquoise cloth binding with political symbols on frontboard in gold. Title on spine in gold. Photo illustrated endpapers and text pages are crisp and clean. Double page photo illustrated title page. The 1968 Republican convention in Miami and Democratic convention in Chicago are covered by a legedary phototojournalist. A classic example of political photo reportage. Over 325 fantastic photographs. Nice tight binding. -$125.00


Mrs. David Bailey, by David Bailey (photographer) Rizzoli 1980. Black and white photographic tribute by a legendary fashion photographer to his model wife. DJ. Good tight binding. $40.00


Helmut Newton, Work, Taschen, 2001, hardcover. Like new. $65.00


Helmut Newton, Portraits, Pantheon, 1987, 1st American edition hardcover in excellent condition, dust jacket clean and intact. -$80.00

Email me for more info!

Today's front page stories

Today's newspaper front pages are dominated by news of the Obama administration declaring greenhouses gases a threat to public health and the president's call for a thaw in U.S./ Cuba relations.

But there's other news also.

Today Random Pixels inaugurates a new daily (hopefully) feature presenting a selection of front page stories from newspapers across the U.S.

Man gets 109 years for assaulting daughter -L.A. Times

Cuba and U.S. drawing closer -St. Petersburg Times

M. L. King's family charges the foundation building a monument to the civil rights leader about $800,000 for the use of his words and image -Atlanta Journal

New nurses struggle to find work -Boston Globe

Soldiers call for Army to drop berets -Stars and Stripes

Vermont legislature tackles teen "sexting" -Burlington (VT.) Free Press

Abandoned pets overwhelm Detroit shelters -Detroit News

Criminals could get help for gambling, not prison time
-Las Vegas Sun

Cash-strapped people and businesses are using the Internet to link up -Raleigh News and Observer

Judge allows wife to harvest dead husband's sperm -N.Y. Daily News

Pit bulls maul man 2nd time -Billings (MT.) Gazette

An invitation

Join my new Random Pixels Facebook page.

Hey teabaggers; you've just been punked!

Watch for the moment when he asks the crowd how many of them make less than $250,000 a year!

Coast Guard looks for Somali pirates trains off Miami Beach

UPDATED Thursday at 12:30pm: I contacted the U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Public Affairs section this afternoon.

Petty Officer Nick Ameen tells me that the appearance of their chopper last night in Biscayne Bay between Star Island and Miami Beach was just a "training exercise." Ameen said that this is something they do all the time. "That way we're ready."

Ameen also tells me that he's received quite a few calls about last night's exercise.

photo by John Fisher
A Coast Guard HH-65 Dauphin helicopter (large circle) hovers about 40 or 50 feet over the water off Miami Beach (at 11th Street and West Avenue) and Star Island Wednesday night.

The chopper arrived at about 8pm and stayed on scene for about an hour in a steady hover, shining its searchlight into the water. A police boat (small circle) was in the water below. The steady whine of the chopper's turbines prompted many high rise residents to gawk at the scene and more than a few of them to flood Channel 7's switchboard.

It's unknown what, if anything, the Coast Guard was looking for. I'll update as soon as Channel 7 hits the air!

Miami Herald: "Brainwashing your kids can be fun!"

The Miami Herald proves today that the wheels have finally come off the little red wagon at One Herald Plaza.

I thought the editors at the paper had plumbed the depths of banality last month with a couple of stories that had no business on the local front page.

But two stories in today's paper prove that I was wrong.

Consider this story on Miami Beach cops collecting DNA from school kids. The Herald's Jennifer Lebovich explains that police believe that having a child's DNA can help them should a child go missing.

Lebovich fails to offer up any counterpoint such as the fact that there's a probably enough DNA in a child's bedroom or bathroom should the unthinkable happen.

And she never even touches on the fears that some civil libertarians have about government collection of too much personal data on citizens.

Instead of real reporting she offers up these cutesy lines:

[Officer Phil Elmore] gets ready to rub the two plastic swabs on the inside of her cheek and take a sample of her DNA.

''It'll tickle and you can giggle, but don't close your mouth,'' Elmore told the girl in the classroom at North Beach Elementary school.

And: ''It was fun 'cause I like taking pictures,'' said Samara Usmani-Smith, 6. ``You never get to see your fingerprints on the computer.''

See kids, helping Big Brother gather your personal data can be fun!

But now for the coup de grâce!

Herald writer Kathryn Wexler and videographer Emily Michot have found a "spa" where young girls learn how to be snotty little divas.



In the video, Adriana Cohen, the owner of Le Petite Spa explains, somewhat inarticulately, that she was deprived of the spa experience as a child.

So now she wants every young girl to experience how refreshing and relaxing it can be to put cucumber slices over their eyes.

Never mind that these little girls will probably turn into self-absorbed, materialistic divas soon enough. Cohen wants to speed that process up.

Some of her "patrons" are as young as 4 years-old.

To Wexler's credit, early on in her story she does include a view opposing this sort of nonsense:

Diane Levin, a professor of education at Wheelock College in Boston and an expert on societal influences on children, thinks places like Le Petite are damaging to young girls.

"When you're talking about a 4-year-old going to a spa or getting spiffed up and everyone says, `you look so pretty,' they learn that's what you do to be successful. They're not going to develop to their fullest potential if they think the most important thing is how they look," she said.

Thanks Miami Herald for reminding us that brainwashing can be fun!

The view from South Pointe

Went down to the new South Pointe Park last week with my camera.

Couldn't have said it better!

U.S. Navy photo

Comment left on New York Times website by reader G. Ligler of San Diego regarding the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips:

"Another reason to be proud of the US Navy.

And, it gives new meaning to the term 'Easter SEALS.'

I'm also proud of our government for not negotiating with the pirates, otherwise known as terrorists on the seas. Paying ransom only perpetuates the problem, as so many other countries have found out, the hard way.

Maybe the pirates will think twice about the next passing ship, especially if it is flying the US Flag.

Good job Navy, keep making us proud!"

Fidel Castro refuses to die!

Back on Jan. 4 I predicted that Fidel Castro would die on April 10...yesterday.

I didn't seen anything in the papers this morning, so I assuming he's still alive.

This guy is communism's version of the Eveready bunny!

Should newspapers post police booking mug shots online?

Live chat.

South Pointe Park UPDATE

Miami Herald photo by PATRICK FARRELL
The day after the new South Pointe Park on South Beach opened I posted a comment made by a Miami Beach police officer about the park possibly attracting vandals and homeless people.

I wrote a note to Hilda Fernandez, Miami Beach Assistant City Manager asking what steps the city was taking to prevent the park from falling victim to graffiti taggers and hordes of homeless campers.

Today she responded:

Prior to the opening of South Pointe Park, and as customary for the opening of any new city park, City staff developed an operating plan that encompasses everything from security, park rules, sanitation, parking, maintenance, programming, homeless prevention, graffiti remediation, etc.

As part of the development of the operating plan, staff from Parks, Parking, Public Works/Sanitation, Public Works/Property Maintenance, Homeless Coordination, Code Compliance, Police, Public Works/Environmental, Planning, Asset Management, and Fire/Ocean Rescue met on-site to walk the park and physically observe the unique characteristics of the park, and ensure that the operating plan included the approach to address any potential issues.

(One example was identifying the lack of deterrents for skateboarders to use the benches and portions of the cutwalk for “grinding.” As a result of the walk-through, metal tabs were added to the benches to prevent this from occurring).

Operating issues addressed in the plan included, among others, homeless outreach, security to enforce prohibited activities, park hours, and the extent of programming at the park.

The proposed operating plan was presented to the City Commission’s Neighborhoods/Community Affairs Committee for their review and direction, and is undergoing further revisions in response to their input.

At present, security staffing has been scheduled in a manner to ensure maximum coverage in the evening hours. Daytime security services are supplemented by the on-site Parks staff, while Code Compliance staff is monitoring the park as part of their route.

Police has included drive-bys in their operational plan, and our Homeless Coordination Office is monitoring the park to ensure that no homeless encampments/sleeping areas are created.

We have not had any issues in the short time the park has been open, but know that consistent monitoring is essential to ensure that these issues do not crop up.

Thank you for your interest in this park. I hope you have been able to go in the evening, as the lights look remarkable.

Hilda

Sounds like everything is under control!

The John Timoney story no one wants to read

We all remember John Timoney...right?

America's Worst Cop?

The "Junkyard Dog" who forgot to read the constitution before he trampled on demonstrators' right of free assembly during the FTAA in Miami in 2003?

The guy who drove a Lexus for free for 15 months until he was outed by Gary Nelson at CBS4?

The guy who mobilized the entire Miami Police Dept. to look for the thief who stole his wife's purse?

Yeah, that John Timoney.

He's been laying low lately.

But Miami Reuters bureau reporter Tom Brown has found him and interviewed him. But apparently no one wants to read it.

I could find only one link to it on the 'net. And that's because it was on the Reuters website!

I emailed a journalist friend today and kidded her because she didn't get the interview.

She responded that journalists call this kind of story a "beat sweetener."

"A gratuitously flattering profile[s] that a reporter writes about a government official in the hope that it will encourage...that reporter's access to the official in question."

Timoney doesn't give many interviews to pesky reporters.

But Reuters' Tom Brown found a way to get one.

Apparently he agreed to not ask the chief any tough questions!

CSI: Miami Beach...the Shamwow Caper

Miami Beach PD photo via thesmoking gun.com
Looks like the boys at the Miami Beach Crime Scene Investigations unit are loving those new digital cameras they recently got.

They put them to good use a few weeks ago photographing the aftermath of the Shamwow Dude/Hooker confrontation that happened at the posh Setai.

And The Smoking Gun has all the pictures!

You won't see this stuff in the Herald!
...

Hat tip: Riptide 2.0

Reuters CEO on social networking

Tom Glocer, chief executive of Thomson Reuters spoke his mind Monday at a meetup in Brooklyn.

Random Pixels especially likes these Glocer quotes:

[Glocer] discussed Twitter, saying, "I think if you hooked up Einstein to Twitter, it'd be garbage, too."

He also explained why he switched from LinkedIn to Facebook for business networking: "Every a**hole who wanted a job was pestering me on LinkedIn and nobody interesting was coming to me."

Leonard Pitts at Books and Books April 14

The Miami Herald's Pulitzer prize winning columnist - and newest blogger- Leonard Pitts is making a rare public Miami appearance at the Books and Books location in Coral Gables next Tuesday April 14.

He'll be talking about his new novel, "Before I Forget."

Pitts will probably attract a good size audience...so get there early!

And tell Mitch that Random Pixels sent you!

The Bunker

Tim on the business end of a Foster's

My friend Tim is a photojournalist who covers the mean streets of Miami.

He's seen more war, shootings, hurricanes, death and destruction than just about anybody I know.

He listens to police radios 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

So how does he unwind?

For the past 6 years he's been heading down to the Keys... about 130 days a year to work on his retirement home.

The Keys, Tim explains, have the strictest building codes in the country.

And Tim has built a bunker that complies with the code.



I went down with Tim a week ago last Saturday (March 28) and stayed the weekend.

It wasn't easy.

Tim has a few rules for visitors.

At Mile marker 50 he invokes the "absolutely no talk about a certain Miami newspaper" rule.

"If you do I'll feed you to the sharks and then make you walk home!"

(On Sunday Tim broke his own rule when he explained the similarities between photo editors and alligators. "They both have a brain the size of a pea!" Ouch!)

Rule #2: no electronics, radios, computers, TVs...nothing.

Tim's backyard

Friday night I went to sleep looking out at a black velvet sky with some of the brightest stars I've ever seen.

And woke up to the sound of the wind and one lone mourning dove.

"It's so quiet sometimes I can hear the guy across the canal stirring his coffee in the morning."

Another thing about life in this part of the Keys. There's virtually no crime. Tim's house is at the end of a 4 mile road. No one gets this far by accident. "We keep an eye on everyone."

However the week before I went down Tim fell victim to a crime of sorts. A neighbor walked into his house and stole something.

Actually the neighbor was an Airedale terrier (that belonged to a neighbor) that stopped by to visit and seeing an open door, walked in and took a stick of butter off the kitchen table.

Tim knew later when he couldn't find the butter that the dog was the culprit. "When he left he had a guilty look! He ate the whole damn thing; paper and all!"

A little slice of tranquility, a long way from the mean streets.

Breaking News from South Beach UPDATED

Crime scene tech carries weapons from house at 211 Michigan Ave., Miami Beach
Miami Dade detectives and Miami Beach crime scene techs are on the scene at 211 Michigan Ave.

Apparently they showed up to serve a warrant on the owner of the house who is alleged to have made some kind of threats.

Crime scene techs have been carting long rifles out of the house for the past hour.

Of course Channel 7 is all over it. I guess the rest of the stations will catch up later!

I'll have a few pics later when I update.

Your government in action!

We here at Random Pixels want you to know that we're always looking out for you! Or to borrow a phrase from those TV consumer reporters: "Random Pixels is on your side!"

On Saturday I posted an item about the parents of a 4-year-old boy who are suing the makers of Crocs because the child "nearly lost a toe after his foot got stuck in a Miami International Airport escalator."

Well, this morning your government sprung into action. Want proof?

Below is the entry on my blog's visitor activity log that shows someone at the Consumer Product Safety Commission spent a little time reading up on those dangerous Crocs, landing on my blog after doing a Google search.

The entry shows that the person visited my blog at 7:21 am! They get to work early at the CPSC!

We at Random Pixels are flattered that the government rergards us as the ultimate authority on safety issues affecting the American public. But if the CPSC bureaucrats are relying on us to keep abreast of dangerous products, they're in big trouble!
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Number of Entries: 2
Entry Page Time: 6th April 2009 07:21:23
Visit Length:
Browser: IE 7.0
OS WinXP
Resolution: 1024x768

Returning Visits:
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
IP Address: Fts/ 2001/ Us Consumer Product (63.74.109.193) [Label IP Address]
Entry Page: randompixels.blogspot.com/
Exit Page: randompixels.blogspot.com/
Referring URL: www.google.com/custom?q=miami airport croc injury&sa=Google Search

I don't care how comfortable they are; you look like a dumb ass!

"The family of a 4-year-old boy who nearly lost a toe after his foot got stuck in a Miami International Airport escalator in March is suing the popular rubber clogs company Crocs, Inc., saying the shoe had no warning feet could be sucked into the machines."

Perhaps the kid should counter-sue his parents for making him wear such ugly-ass shoes in the first place!

I wonder what this will do for his ratings?

"WPLG-ABC 10 anchor Charles Perez filed a petition in Miami-Dade court for an injunction for protection against domestic violence," alleging "that his former partner, Dennis Ricardo Peña, has 'stalked, harassed and threatened' him, and vowed to wreck his TV career."

So says Joan Fleischman.

Almost makes me yearn for the less-complicated reign of Dwight Lauderdale. The only thing they were able to nail him with was the fact he dyed his mustache and "has had several hair implant procedures." (Miami Herald, June 11, 2001)

Good one Joan; things were starting to get a little boring around here!

Paving Paradise

New to the Random Pixels bookshelf:

Paving Paradise: Florida's vanishing Wetlands and the failure of No Net Loss by St. Petersburg Times reporters Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite

from Amazon.com

Florida possesses more wetlands than any other state except Alaska, yet since 1990 more than 84,000 acres have been lost to development despite presidential pledges to protect them. How and why the state's wetlands are continuing to disappear is the subject of "Paving Paradise". Journalists Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite spent nearly four years investigating the political expedience, corruption, and negligence on the part of federal and state agencies that led to a failure to enforce regulations on developers. They traveled throughout the state, interviewed hundreds of people, dug through thousands of documents, and analyzed satellite imagery to identify former wetlands that were now houses, stores, and parking lots. Exposing the unseen environmental consequences of rampant sprawl, Pittman and Waite explain how wetland protection creates the illusion of environmental protection while doing little to stem the tide of destruction. What is happening to Florida's 'protected' wetlands?

Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen says, "This is an exhaustive, timely and devastating account of the destruction of Florida's wetlands, and the disgraceful collusion of government at all levels. It's an important book that should be read by every voter, every taxpayer, every parent, every Floridian who cares about saving what's left of this precious place."

Free ain't free!

"Why should I buy the paper when I can read it for free online?" -comment left recently by a reader on the Miami Herald's website

Here's a couple of stories for all those people who think that everything they read on a newspaper's website appears there magically...and for free.

A typical NYT Magazine cover story costs $40K-plus

NYT Mag editor Gerald Marzorati on what's required of a writer doing a long-form magazine piece: "Weeks and weeks of reporting. Hanging out with the subject of your piece, hoping some scene will emerge that because of where it is and what the dialogue is, will reveal that subject. ... And all this time, of course, costs money. A typical cover story in the Times Magazine, when you add up what we pay the author and what the expenses for travel are --- and this leaves out the editing and fact-checking costs, the photography, and so on -- the tally is north of $40,000, and often, if a war zone is involved, considerably more."

Good journalism is "shockingly expensive"

The Boston Globe spent more than $1 million to investigate sexual abuse of children by priests, editor Marty Baron said at the University of Oregon. When Baron was at the Miami Herald in 2000, it cost the paper $850,000 to do an audit of the Florida vote count. Tony Ridder, then Knight Ridder CEO, paid the bill "without complaint," said Baron. "How many newspaper executives would do now what he did then?"

via Romenesko

The way we were

Posting this shot of the Miami skyline from 1939 for any of you who think that all of those tall buildings in downtown Miami have always been there! ;)

Photo from Don Boyd's great archive of old Miami photos.

Herald publisher: "We're here to stay."

Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg has cut a slick TV spot - in both English and Spanish - that will launch this month.

The commercial is a video version of his "Message to Readers and Advertisers" posted on the paper's website March 22.

The spot appears to be part of the Herald's ongoing campaign to assure not only readers, but advertisers, that the Herald is here to stay.

In the video, a slightly catatonic Landsberg assures his rapt audience that the Herald's committment to South Florida won't change.

Watching this ad was like deja vu all over again.

In the early 90's I covered stories involving Eastern Airlines and Pan Am - both were struggling for survival.

I witnessed the filming of eerily similar and elaborately produced ad campaigns for both carriers designed to inform consumers that everything was just fine.

In 1991 both airlines went belly up.