A Cup Of Coffee And Some Intelligent Conversation With Alexandra

A Spirit Woman? Does She Actually Exist?

Monday morning and Janis materializes on my sofa, drinks a cup of coffee, eats some pastry if I have some, and stuffs my Sunday Herald back inside the plastic bag. Then she heads out the door and evaporates into thin air as she heads down my front walk (top photo). She'll call later in the afternoon with a plaintive "Did you make any more coffee?" She's the stone deaf widow that lives down on the next block.

I lead such an exciting life with all of these beautiful women calling and visitng and begging rides to the grocery an the drugstore.

Mug Shot ~ Thanks Mukul

My friend Mukul Dube in Delhi, India sent me this mug. Thanks, Mukul! What a great birthday gift! Yeah, I turned 67 a couple of days ago and I look more fit and in better shape than my balding physician Larry. I got me a flatter belly also. Not to mention that mop of hair! Eat your heart out, Larry the Bald.

I guess this means that I'm going to have to stick my 15mm Voigtlander Heliar lens, that ultra ULTRA wide angle optic, my favorite lens, on one of my Leica camera bodies instead of the lightweight little mostly plastic Bessa L. That oughta build up my arms and shoulders, holding close to a kilogram of glass, brass, and chrome out there at arm's length. Strange, but it's mostly chicks that recognize the Leica name. Or take traditional darkroom courses at school and still shoot film! The Dudes talk about "megapixels" and auto this and auto that and frame rates, all that tech geek B.S. rather than wanting to learn how to make great eye catching photographs.

I like to sit out on my front porch in the morning, drinking my coffee, watching the dogs and kids walk by. I really enjoy watching the neighbor's cat trying to stalk the occasional wayward mouse that didn't manage to get into his hidey hole before it got light out.

The coffee tastes great in that new mug also. If you'd like one email Mukul. He can be reached at uthappam@gmail.com He'll want a check for $20, which includes shipping from Delhi, and the few dollars "profit" he uses to help out the malnourished children there. Obviously he can make good use of more money if you feel generous, and there's a saving in per mug shipping costs if you order more than one at a time, which is more more money for his good work.

Camping it up In Provincetown ~ 1962

I'd stopped off for a late night coffee and Danish at a place I went to frequently enough so that everybody knew me. Suddenly this couple noticed my camera and started camping it up, playing to the camera, and I fired off a few frames. I liked this one best of all. It was just so damned spontaneous! So full of love! I'm glad that I had the camera loaded and ready to go.

The guy on the right, the one wearing the apron, was the one who worked there.

The War Room ~ Briefing The Troops

Everybody met at Bonnie's house and we had coffee and bagels before taking seats in the living room. Allison handed out clipboards and pens and then stood by the large flip chart. She outlined the day's task as she flipped pages on the chart. The troops were wearing comfortable shoes and the signature yellow Bonnie Schwartzbaum shirts, then they were divided up into pairs. Maps showed which streets each pair would cover, one person working one side while their partner visited the houses on the other side. There were lists of the last known resident for each house along with their listed party affiliation, whether or not they'd voted in the last election, everything that could be gleaned from the county records, all the information and facts available.

Stacks of hand-out cards were distributed to everybody, then Allison went over what the troops were supposed to say, how to handle recalcitrant residents without alienating them, how to talk up Bonnie's qualifications as well as her ideals and visions for a better City of North Miami. If nobody was home we were warned not to put the cards in a mail box. It was OK to push them through a mail slot. Otherwise tuck them between the door and the door frame near the door know. A few questions were answered, Bonnie gave a pep talk. Water bottles were distributed. It was a sunny hot day. Then everybody went out to their asigned routes. ACTION TIME! We're going to win this one!

South Beach Adventure

Waiting For The Coffee, Conferring With The State Department

At a recent homeowners association meeting North Miami City Councilman Michael Blynn, in his desperate attempt to secure enough votes in the upcoming run-off election to keep his council seat, was talking about how he was entitled to the recent humongous raise plus the obscene benefits package the council recently gave themselves in flagrant violation of the city charter. He thought that it was well deserved because of all the time he puts into city business and all the trips to Washington, D.C. he's made at city expense trying to secure grants for the city. It's called lobbying.

I tend to do things differently. James and I have become close friends over the years as his State Department job brings him to the Miami area several times a year for various international conferences. A time or two he's crashed at my house but since marrying Liz they tend to stay at fancy art deco South Beach hotels, and they dine on gourmet fare at trendy sidewalk cafes and posh gourmet restaurants. We discuss cameras and film and how immigrant influxes affect cities like North Miami. He's gone all around North Miami with me, visited stores and eaten at restaurants like Jimmy's Place, met the residents rich and poor alike, knows the problems of the city and its residents, and he has friends in other government agencies that he talks with on a regular basis. It's called neworking

James and I spent the afternoon eating and talking and watching the scantily clad girls wander by. James grabbed the check and put it on HIS expenses account for the trip. Michael, now that's the way to lobby Washington. Let them come to you.

Evil Woman (Not The Song)

Well Robin isn't exactly an Evil Woman. That's a song by The Electric Light Orchestra, really a rock group in case you have visions of an audience filled with women dripping in jewelry and wrapped in fur stoles over their evening gowns, bored husbands in tow, listening to mellow drums acompanying a huge string section, flutes, acoustic piano, etc. No this was a Rock Group without a doubt, who had a big hit with Evil Woman back in 1975, and it's still a popular song.

I'm talking about Robin, a self proclaimed hillbilly from the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. She's not really evil. Persistant perhaps, tenacious without a doubt, and posessive to boot. I'm the object of her desires. She's learned my favorite dishes and become more than adept at making them just the way I like them. When she's out of town she calls me every evening, just "checking up" on me. She knows enough not to rearange piles of junk in my house because she realizes that if she did I'd never be able to find a damned thing.

So when I mentioned last December that I couldn't find a pocket planner the next thing I knew she gave me one! The coffee mugs on the cover reflect our mutual love of the brew, and the two year life span of the planner tells me that she's planning on keeping me around for awhile. Maybe she's not so evil after all.

Nicotine Is Good For Your Brain

Yup, it increases cognitive abilities and delays the onset of Alzheimers syndrome. The medical establishment keeps harping on the fact that it causes heart attacks and lung cancer while clinical researchers are discovering all the good things it does. The choice comes down to having a healthy body while turning into a babbling idiot or retaining your thinking abilities as your body falls apart. Thrillng, huh?

Of course the government uses all of this as an excuse to tax the hell out of cigarettes. "It's to pay for the extra health care costs" they tell us. If it was really that much of a killer they'd encourage smoking! Less Social Security costs that way.

Well, I just roll my own! Somebody in government must have come up with the concept of a lower to middle income tax break. Bulk tobacco is taxed at a much lower rate than ready rolled cigarettes. I just love tax breaks, don't you?

It gives me something to do in the morning before I wake up enough to read the Herald. That and drinking coffee, another thing that increases cognitive abilities. No wonder I'm so damned smart!

All That's New Is The Handicap Parking Sign

The old tag agency is still here! When I was in high school back in the late 50's this also served as the place where you took your driving test, got drivers licenses as well as hunting and fishing licenses, got license tags. did car title transfers, had things notarized, all sorts of things. There was even a driving school here.

Now they sell insurance, transfer titles, are the source of auto tags but the state handles renewals by mail, and you go to a state office to get your good for eight years drivers license. Hunting and fishing licenses you get from Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World about ten miles away, up in Broward County. A royal pain in the ass! Why was I here on this day? To take this photo is why. Then I drove about half a mile up West Dixie Highway to the Sunnyside Cafe, orderd bacon, eggs and grits with white toast, and had a cup of cofee while I read the paper.

The Last Of The Al Kaplan T-shirts?

Amazing. James Mitchell gets the idea of sticking my ugly face on a T-shirt, complete with a cigarette dangling from my lips, posts the thing on an internet Leica Photography forum, and suddenly orders are coming from as far away as Australia! Next thing I know I'm having coffee at a sidewalk cafe on South Beach, another photo of me, this time with Leicas draped across my chest. by a top advertising photographer, and James decides another T-shirt is called for. In the meantime I've discovered that a market has developed for the few T-shirts out there, used I'm assuming, and I suggested to James that maybe he should make up some more, or better yet, a coffee mug! He just emailed me this link. Seems he has a few of the first batch of both editions still available and right now he's listing them on ebay. Put one on, grab a cuppa java, and you can pretend that you're having Coffee With Al

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300280263884

"Al,Can you put a link to the auction in your blog. This is on Ebay for the remaining 7 Large size shirts. I have a couple of odd sizes, but these are the last. I have two more of the newer shirt too. But let's see how this goes. Here is a link"

Back To The Sunnyside Cafe Again

There used to be two chains of donut shops making traditional cake donuts, Mr. Donut and Dunkin' Donut. The amount of shops ebbs and flows with how worried people seem to get about eating fats and sugar. All of the Mr. Donut shops seem to be gone, although one hung in there for several years under the name of The Donut Connection

Forty years or so ago this place was a Mr. Donut but they used to make the donuts at the larger 163rd St. store and bring them down here to 139th St. Then one day ALL the donut shops were history.

Coffee is the twenty-first century buzzword. Starbucks opened shops all over the place. Somebody at Dunkin' Donut got the brilliant idea of featuring their coffee, talking about what a smooth flavor it had, not mentioning donuts at all. It must be working because there are new Dunkin' Donut shops springing up everwhere. I often stop to pick up a couple donuts on my way to Starbucks.

This location sat empty for several years, then reopened as a breakfast and lunch place with counter seating and a few tables. You get a choice of home fries, hash browns, or grits and the eggs are cooked like you want them, along with link or patty sausage, bacon, or ham. They've added a Kreyole speaking Haitian waitress to the already bilingual Spanish/English mix. When I need something more sustatial than a donut first thing in the morning I stop at the Sunnyside Cafe (then I go to Starbucks for some stronger brew).

Finding The Light In The Darkness

It's quiet, it's late. I come over here most evenings to drink some coffee, chat with friends at times, perhaps read a bit, or just collect my thoughts, as the saying goes.

That young woman? I have no idea who she is. I probably wasn't even aware that she was there at the time. When I'm shooting these self-portraits sometimes I look back there and see whats behind me. Most times I don't. It just happens, or it's intuiton, or the camera itself has a great sense of lighting and compostion.

She has her coffee and her cigarette, as do I. She's reading a book, or maybe studying. I'm taking pictures. I never seem to succeed at collecting my thoughts. We both needed the light.

The Best Bread In Town!

I stopped by Ness Konditori ~ most people just call it "the German Bakery" ~ and after chatting with Helga and her son Ray for a few minutes I bought six turnovers. Helga makes the lightest most flakey crust you can imagine! I was a little dissapointed that all she had left was guava and cheese, and two apple. I like cherry best, and next plain guava. It might seem odd that a German bakery makes turnovers with a tropical fruit filling, and guava is tropical for sure. The guava and cheese combo is a Latino favorite.

Helga was astute enough to realize that as the neighborhood changes so should she. It's a little patch of unincorporated county sanwiched between the Town of Miami Shores on the south and across the Biscayne Canal just to the north is the Village of Biscayne Park. They're both a bit more upscale than the small area of county where thre bakery is located and it shows. Code enforcement is more lax and there are a lot more unkempt weeds than bushes in the "landscaping" around the parking lot.

Still the people drive there from both north and south and you'll find everybody from teens in baggy jeans with their caps on backwards to elderly ladies in short heels and dresses, their grey hair neatly coiffed every week at the beauty shop. These kids wanted to know about my "film camera". I explained why I prefer film and gave them a card. As an after thought I bought a bag of day old rolls that were by the cash register at half price, and headed up to Starbucks to pig out on turnovers with my morning coffee.

Lunching With A Barista

First off, thanks for checking the blog. You've probably noticed that it's no longer an every day like clockwork situation. That was difficult to maintain. I expect that a more or less every other day schedule, 3 or 4 posts a week, is achievable. Just keep checking in!

When Starbucks decided to open another North Miami location, this time right in front of the Museum of Contemprary Art and next to City Hall they trained the new help at the 135th St. Starbucks where I usually hang out, and they also transferred some of the more experienced baristas to the new location. It was a smooth transition. The new location opened without a hitch and the other store kept ticking along.

No, off hand I can't think of her name but she was sitting there outside the new place eating her lunch as I was headed in the direction of getting a fresh cup of hot coffee. She remembered my name. We sat and chatted a bit about how life was at the new store, the usual. Small talk it's called. She soon had to get back behind that counter, I got my coffee and headed off to the next adventure. If cashing a check is really an adventure.

Just Another Two-Timing Little Bitch

Hi there, it's me again, Monkette, writing the blog today. (This is fun!)

It better be fun to make up for all the indignities that Al subjects me to...LOL. On this particular afternoon he insisted that I sit out the fun and games locked up in the truck. Gloria was having her afternoon coffee at Starbucks when we arrived and her little grey poodle, Sophia, simply loves Al to death. She gets all excited when his truck pulls into the lot and can't wait for Al to pick her up and put her on his lap. She dances around in circles on just her hind legs until he does! Then she stands up, putting her little paws on Al's chest, licking his neck and face and giving little yips of joy.

Gloria is always afraid that Sophia will get insanely jealous if she were to spot ME on Al's lap. Hell, she just might be right! She's afraid that Sophia might attack me, bite me, maybe even tear me limb from limb. She doesn't give a rat's ass about MY feelings, stuck in the truck watching the two of them carrying on like that for all to see. When Peter arrived Sophia jumped off Al's lap and ran around to the side of Peter's chair. She knows which side too. Peter always pets her with his left hand, leaving his right hand free for his coffee cup.

Al soon got pissed with Sophia paying all that attention to another man. He got back in our truck and let me ride home sitting on his lap. He's never let Sophia do that, although he probably dreams of having Gloria sit there! Not on MY watch! No way!

Art Museum Camouflage

Al has been doing much better the last few days, adjusting to the bigger dose of anti-seizure meds. I think he looks much better without the beard also. What do you think? It's his wardrobe that always has me upset. Tattered faded jeans. Rumpled fishing shirts full of coffee stains and cigarette burn holes. Topsider boat shoes that should have gone in the trash halfway through the Vietnam war. Does Al notice? I suppose not. He certainly doesn't care.

Now, about his hair. I happen to agree with Mayor Kevin Burns. It looks great! It's really HIM! It fits his character to a "T". His ex, Claudia, hates it. I told her "Look sister! He lives with ME now, not you, and I LOVE his hair!"

I got him to drive up to Outdoor World. They had a big sale and Al got new Topsiders, new jeans, new unrumpled fishing shirts without stains and holes, and then as we walked to the check-out line I spotted a clearance rack. Hey, us chicks can't help it! There was a gorgeous reddish orange rayon sport shirt, and any chick will tell you that rayon drapes and feels like real silk! Then I spotted this shirt! It IS pure silk!!!! And the two shirts together were less than twenty bucks! Can I shop or what, huh?

Next morning I dragged Al over by MOCA, the art museum. I climbed up on a bench, but compared to Al I am a bit on the short side...LOL I remarked "Look at how nice that shirt looks against the palm trees. The palm fronds on the shirt, the palm fronds against the sky!" Al replied "Let's walk across the plazza and do the Starbucks thing first". We did, Al got his coffee, I got my picture!

Cute Little Puppy Dog, Cute Little Kids

The dog had a towel so he didn't have to lay on the hot dirty concrete. The kids came along and wanted to pet the dog although the dog didn't seem too interested. Starbucks will gladly supply a free glass of water for dogs. Nobody thought to ask. I just watched.

Good For Thirty More Years!

That's what I'm hoping for, anyway. Here's part of the office staff at my doctor's office. He's part of a group practice. Sole practioners are so passe these days. It requires a staff just to hassle with all the paperwork connected with dealing with HMO's and Medicare. I like the Medicare thing, Uncle Sam paying for my medical care. On the other hand it makes you wonder if there's any money left for the doctor after trying to pay the staff from the negotiated low rates the HMO will pay. I told my doc that as long as the magazines are new and the coffee pot full of fresh coffee (and he doesn't keep me waiting too long) I'll come in for a visit whenever he can think of an excuse to examine me. We both come out ahead and I get to flirt with these smiling young ladies. As for my health? Everything looks good! "Thirty more years" he said. I wondered what that cute young lady on the left will look like in thirty years. I wondered if I'll even still care.

Capt. Al's Jig Factory ~ And Some Odds And Ends

I'm going to do the odds and ends first. I rarely get comments on my posts except as emails, and then mostly from people that I already know. This morning I had four comments. One was from Bill Clark wanting to know why I wasn't posting anymore on the photo.net Leica forum. Bill, I got kicked off. It seems that some of the friends of the forum's "owners" though that I was becoming too popular. A guy named Brad Evans was my biggest detractor and I think a lot of the forum regulars figured that out. He's a friend of the management over there.

Another comment saying that he enjoyed my photos and reading my unpredictable little essays came from Rob Hall in Munich, Germany. The other two were signed "anonymous". One gentleman said how much he enjoyed the blog while the second related how he used to go to that YMCA on N.W. 17th Ave. back in the 1970's, and it brought back some pleasant memories. That's the post with the map of North Miami. Thanks, guys, for your comments!

I love fishing with bucktail jigs and a few months ago I wrote about it here: http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com/2006/10/bounty-of-fish-in-north-biscayne-bay.html If you do a google search for "bucktail jig" "al kaplan" you'll get some other links. In this photo I'm actually tying some pink and white hair on a 1/4 ounce lead jig head. I made the lap desk a bunch of years ago so I could sit outside while I'm doing it. That way all the little bits of hair can just be swept off the porch into the grass where it'll decompose. It's supposedly rich in nitrogen and makes good fertilizer. I usually just do this first thing in the morning when it's still cool out, but a few folks I know from my fishing club all called within days of one another desperate for jigs "yesterday". This included well known fishing guide Dave Kostyo who runs charters for tarpon, sailfish, and a bunch of other species aboard his boat Knot Nancy, and a couple who are avid amateurs and the wife decided that I should make up a dozen of a special color combination that she wanted to try, a chartreuse back with a white belly. I need to give her a call and find out how well they worked. Then my old friend Parks Masterson from Hopkins-Carter Marine down by the Miami River wanted a dozen in all black. For a week I was out there every morning making jigs, drinking my morning coffee, and smoking cigarettes until the sun got too hot. Now they all have their jigs and I made up a bunch of extras while I was doing it.