The Mothers

Twenty years ago when I made my run for city council my mother (the short lady on the right) and my opponent's mother were out there at their neighborhood polling places weilding campaign signs for their sons. They both lived in the same precinct.

My mom, Ruth B. Solomon, had never professed much interest in politics, yet some of my earliest memories include walking with either her or my grandmother the five or six blocks to the Betsy B. Winslow Elementary School on Eection Day where we'd go down the half fight of stairs to the basement where the voting took place.

Even at the ager of two or three I got the lecture on how we lived in a democracy and it was our solemn duty to vote to preserve our freedoms. I was told that in places like Nazi Germany, Russia, Poland, and a bunch of other countries people didn't get the chance to vote for their leaders.

In a way we really didn't either. Voting was often along religious or ethnic lines. Adult conversation in the weeks leading up to an election was often filled with "We should vote for so-and-so because he's Jewish, and since Hymie Rosen retired we haven't had a Jew on the City Council!" But other times it was "Vote for Manny Goulart's cousin because Manny is Grandpa's business partner. They own the Dean Bldg. in the North End and the Olympia Bldg. in the middle of downtown New Bedford. They're old friends!" and it didn't matter that Manny was Catholic and proud of his Portuguese heritage.

I'm not really sure how these two guys became such good friends but I have my suspicion that it had to do with smuggling. My grandfather had been in the wholesale liquor business both before and after prohibition. Manny owned a small fleet of commercial fishing boats that fished for cod and haddock of the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Booze stayed legal there. I suspect that all of those boatloads of fish had a layer of fish covering bottles of whiskey and kegs of beer mixed with the ice.

We lived way too well to be doing it on half of the profits from a small strip of retail shops and a four story office building, both of which were half vacant most of the time.

This Bud's On Me ~ What "Miami Style" Used To Mean

It was surreal, really. I'd been invited to a birthday party at a nearby coffee house, the kind with live folk music, but the place kind of stretches the definition of "coffee house" to encompass a wide selection of imported beers and wines. The "birthday girl" was a local folk singer, perhaps too young to remember Bob Dylan in his prime, but not exactly a spring chicken either.

The place was crowded beyond belief. Since you can't smoke inside anyplace these days there were plenty of people outside satiating their nicotine requirements. Business people, doctors, lawyers, essentialy an educated and upscale crowd. Suddenly the guy I was chatting with said "You smoke, don't you, Al?" I held up my bidi. "No no! that's not what I mean!" as he pulled a little pipe and a bud out of a zip-lock that he'd had in his pocket.

Here we were, a bunch of rapidly greying and balding middle age and older guys, pillars of the community, passing around the pipe, toking away! Law abiding, too! We were doing it outside, right? Right across the street from the police station. I hadn't smoked in years and rapidly got really ripped. My benefactor gave me a bud "for later". He was really proud of his son and the great weed the kid was growing in his hydroponic garden. I think he said it was in Oregon. Gotta be proud of your kids! It was indeed some good shit!

When I got home I scanned the bud. The next couple of nights I had a great time incinerating the evidence.

Damned Hair Is Turning White On Me!

I guess that I should consider myself lucky. My scalp isn't showing and my hair is still nice and thick but as I look back through the photos here on the blog it's pretty obvious that it isn't as brown as it once was.

A few years ago the city put in this plaza in front of the art museum and next to city hall. I honestly don't remember exactly what this "event" was all about but the Public Works guys set up a bunch of these little pavillions. As usual I was early. People were still setting up and the crowds had yet to arrive. Just out of frame on the left is a Starbucks. It's maybe 80 meters away from me, smack dab in front of the art museum. I walked over to get a cup of coffee while waiting for some people to show up.

Now there's talk about Starbucks closing that location. Not enough business. But across the street to the north is the Luna Star Cafe. Alexis was pissed when Starbucks opened there and now she can't wait for them to fold up and leave. If you're at N.M. City Hall, the Museum of Contemporary Art, or just visiting some of the many galleries in the area stop into the Luna Star Cafe and tell Alexis that you read about it here. She also has a variety of food items and something no Starbucks carries ~ imported beers and wines.

ROOTZ Gallery ~ My Photographs On Exhibit

Rootz is a new gallery located on the corner of West Dixie Highway and N.E. 124th St. For the longest time it was the location of Jaybo Photo, a custom lab and photo supply. Now Mario Flores has rented the place, cleaned it up, and put some fresh paint on the walls. It's now an art gallery! There are several rooms in the place, including a small upstairs.

The grand opening tomorrow night, Friday July 25th, will have oil paintings, etchings, drewings, I think some sculpture, and photographs by myself and another photographer, along with the usual opening night wine & cheese.

I'll be showing a number of my black and white photographs from the 1960's and 1970's, but for a change I'm also showing some of my new experimental black and white work. I know a lot of you enjoy seeing my older photos but now that I don't have to keep clients happy I've struck out in a new direction. I hope you like them.

Most all of the art galleries as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art will be open for the Friday night Gallery Walk sponsored by the City of North Miami. There'll be live jazz in the plaza in front of the museum. Across 125th St. from the plaza is the Lunastar Cafe, a coffee house with a wide assortment of coffees plus teas, imported beers and wines, and light food type things. Tell Alexis that I sent you...LOL

ROOTZ is about two blocks to the west of the museum.