Author: commtims

                                        ….. in light of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

               ….. Question for Sarah   …..   

    Drill Baby Drill …..  Still ?

                          
                                                            ” just kidding!”   

                
               

                               …………  I’m hungry !       ……………..  

                                            

  …. OMG

     This is the Las Olas Riverfront on a Saturday afternoon …. where the hell is everyone ?

     ……. let me go check, am I in the right place?

                                           

                 …….   yup, it’s the Riverfront alright, guess I’ll just go on in and have a pleasant lunch    ……… maybe Max’s !! ….

                                        
               
              …… nope, nobody’s eating any lunch here !!  ….  I’ll go upstairs to Hooters for some wings….yum !!

                                    

                                 guess I’ll take the stairs  ………………………..

                                                  

                                 ….. well crappo …. no wings either   ….Ok, I’ll get a tall sudsy one and think this over!

                        
                                        

                        …. I think I’m getting the picture now ! …  think I’ll go down and get a picture of the famous “birdman” of Riverfront …..  he’s gotta still be there!

                                     

                                ” give me five dollars for picture”   …….

                   ……   I think I’ll go to the Ale House on Federal ………….sheesh!

     Last night, at City Hall in Fort Lauderdale!

       A town hall meeting with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz

                                    
                                          Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz

     Inside the Commission Chambers, the capacity crowd was relatively mannered !

                              

     Outside, not so much! ……………………

                                
                               screamed “You Lie” each time the Chambers doors opened

                               
                                           a new version of the Obama as joker sign

                                
                                            Wasserman Schultz – the Russkie!

                                 
                                                       sign carying capacity?

                                  

                                                     democracy – in action !

     Everybody’s got something to hide but me and my monkey!

     Now there’s a cryptic clue for you of what I did Yesterday !

     Hello ? Goodbye ! …….. figure it out yet?

     Alright – here’s a pictorial clue :

                              

     Yes, I went to a concert ……. it was at the former Dolphin Stadium, former Joe Robbi Stadium, currently the Sun Life Stadium….. So who was playing? Now don’t let me down ! Come on, please, please me !

     Some of you got it, some don’t, ( I do have some pre – 30’s readers!)

                               

   
     The day in my life started out as quite a good morning, good morning. I decided that this boy had a ticket to ride. How did I get there? Drive my car, silly!

                                   

     The concert was really rockin. The crowd was moving. The wife’s out of town, so I was alone, and I turned around and I saw her standing there !

                                     

     OK, so she was sitting – this can’t all work our perfectly! ……. anyhow, I told her to just let it be, I said I’m happy just to dance with you, and we were up in the aisles boogieing!

     The concert was truly an inspiration. Three and a half hours of great music. I just hope I can perform like that when I’m 64 !

    ……….. He’s still an idealist !

                            

           ……..  and a workhorse ! …. three encores !….  he tried to ignore our chants for more….

                             

      It was exhausting, for him and us, but in a good way. 
    
      You know, life can be a long and winding road.  So from me to you, if you ever have a chance to see him, do it, it’s quite worth it. 
   
      It gave me Golden Slumbers…..

                            …… the end

     

     
     

    

     National Politics came to Fort Lauderdale’s Victoria Park neighborhood this afternoon, with the first local gathering of the new movement ….

            ………  the Coffee Party        

     The Coffee Party is a political response to the rather new, but very well known national movement, the Tea Party. This afternoon, a diverse group of citizens gathered at the Brew Coffee Shop in the Winn-Dixie shopping plaza on Federal Highway at NE 6th Street to get acquainted and plot! They quickly out-grew the coffee shop and moved out onto the sidewalk.

     The well mannered group, about three dozen strong, included mostly white, though some black, mostly middle-aged, but some older, and a tiny smathering of young blood!

                                   

     The make-up included war vets ( two Korean and one Viet Nam), old hippies (still in the fight), and the one man that singularly faces off the giant group of Tea Partiers at the intersection of Oakland Park and Federal many weekends ( he got a big round of applause). 

     There was some talk of boycotts, ( tea mostly!) and a big showing of frustration at the condition of the national dialogue.

     Here are a few of the comments from the attendees:
               
     ………….. ” I’m a sadist, I watch Fox TV”

     …………..  ” they’ve taken control of the American flag”

     ………….   ” I came to have a civil discussion”

     ………….    ” the dirty things they do in the name of religion”
   
     ………….    ” I’m scared of the people on the other side”

     ………….    ” my wife says I love pain – I watch Oreily!”

    ………….      ” they’re out – shouting us“

         
      The meeting lasted just short of an hour, and no immediate plans for the future were decided. The event’s organizer, Evan Rowe ( evanrowe@gmail.com ) , told the attendees to make sure to sign-in and he’d be in touch.

     I’ll keep you posted ……..  Tim
    

     Fort Lauderdale Beach is a special place! ….. Known the world over!

            


     And if you’ve been to the beach in the last few years, there are some things you know.

     You know the wave wall, you know the  five-star resorts, you know the giant dactilifera palms  ……and you know ………


                                            
                             CALVIN

     Calvin has become one of the beaches self- made attractions. Seems everyone has a Calvin story. People say he can cause a lot of trouble. I decided to go down the beach to see what makes Calvin tick.
    
     First, we all suspect that Calvin is homeless, though he wouldn’t confirm that. You’ll usually find him lounging on the wave wall, somewhere across from the Elbo Room. What I do know for sure is that he’s a giant man with a giant grin and a giant tale to tell as long as you’ll listen.

      Here’s how my interview with Calvin went:
                                   
                                ………………………………………………………………….. 

     Tim: Hey Calvin, would you talk to me for a few minutes ( I handed Calvin a couple of bucks)

     Calvin: not for that I won’t, how about fifty bucks.

     Tim: can’t do that Calvin, what else will seal the deal?

     Calvin: low cut army boots, size fourteen …… WIDE  ( he says to punctuate) ..  and no new ones, I want them already broke in.

      Tim: deal, ….now tell me about yourself 

      Clavin : Calvin Williams, Marine, 53 years old, live right here on the beach, never going anywhere. I own the Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel, right there, and I love Brittany Spears and Lady Gaga! 

      Tim: Are you doin’ alright …. health OK? …gettin’ plenty to eat?

      Calvin: health is great, love my York Peppermint Patties and Hooter’s Fried Chicken

      Tim: Can I take a couple of pictures?   Calvin gives me one of his goofiest looks.


                                  

     Calvin: how’s that? ( I tell him he cracks me up!) 

     [ According to a retired Police Sergeant that worked the beach area a few years back, Calvin is fine as long as he’s “on his meds”. The Sergeant recalled a sand beach brawl a few of his colleagues had with Calvin a few years back. 

     “Calvin was off his meds and getting abusive to the tourists. Two Officers tried to take him off the sand, but got caught under his giant frame ( the seargent is laughing wildly at this point). From then on, we’d get him off the beach if we had to, but by bribing him with his favorite – Mcmuffins!”] 

     Tim: Calvin, you’re quite a cut-up, anything else you’d like to add?

     Calvin: yea, tell everybody I’m a beach boy, a beach bum, and a walrus ( he erupts in laughter !)

     Tim: OK buddy, hope everything works out for you – (  I say as I head off)

     Calvin: don’t forget my boots, ( he yells after me)
                                         ……………………………………………………………………
     ……… Calvin seems in his own world, but appears to like it there. I hope he’s OK, hope he stays on his meds… hope everything works out for him….

      I’m off to the thrift stores…… size fourteen low cut army boots, WIDE !!!

     

    

     Give ’em hell Harry is historically known.

     Give ’em hell Tim is my attempt at a local version!

  As you might recall, I have been battling some of the Downtown Power Structure that want to solve their problems with aggressive vagrants in Stranahan Park by shipping them up towards my neighborhood off Sunrise Boulevard.

     Well it came to a head last week at a meeting of the Downtown Development Authority. The Sun-Sentinel was there to capture the battle.
        
                 

     Click here  http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/03/downtown_developers_protect_ur.html  to see Brittany Wallman’s take on the meeting and the video.

     Mayor, you done good !

                              
                                            Seiler and Parade Grand Marshall –  Governor Charlie Crist

     Yesterday’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade was a blast. And it was Seiler’s blast!

     Seiler wants a happy city. Yesterday it was. The Mayor had been the Parade’s biggest cheerleader, pushing it wherever he went. Today I’d bet he’s Smilin’ Jack! 

     The Parade should have made everyone smile. It was good old fashioned fun. The line-up was chocked full of neighborhood associations, local school bands, floats, loud music, local politicians finding face time ……. and would you believe  …………..

                                                     ………   the Pope

                                                     ………   the Easter Bunny

                                                     ………   a Leprechaun



                                     

     Geez Jack, if you could just add Abraham Lincoln,  Julius Caesar, Santa Claus, and  Ben Franklin next year, maybe we could make you ………..

                                                           the Governor !
                         

     

    

       It’s known as the “Junkyard Wall”.


                             

        It’s located at Sunrise Boulevard and Interstate 95, an important gateway to our City. 

      It’s in Commissioner Bobby Dubose’s political district, and was artistically painted about a decade ago by some 200 volunteers, one of the first projects of the City’s Citizen Volunteer Corps.


                                          
                                                     Commissioner Dubose at his desk at City Hall


    The sprawling mural, some 300 feet long and 10 feet high, has a mixed  ‘tropical and under the sea’ theme.


                                                


     The painting  took place on a Saturday, and was a fun community-wide effort, and of course one volunteer made sure to put their own particular “signature” on it. 

                                                               
                                                                                get it ?
    
      But unfortunately, more and more areas in the mural are looking like this….

                                    
                                                   

   
     So,  it’s time for a new effort. …… Let’s clear the canvas, Commissioner Dubose, let’s get ‘er done!

     Since it’s our City’s 100th birthday, just a year from now, here’s one idea to chew on. 

     A Happy Centennial Birthday theme – we have had quite an interesting 100 years, and I bet we could come up with one interesting mural!


     The volunteers will be there for you. Here’s a stunt I used to get the 200 volunteers signed up last time around…



                                        
                                     Smith wouldn’t come down until 200 people signed up to help!

 
      Commissioner Dubose …. let me know when to bring the ladder over !