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.

Can't Smoke Inside, Can't Drink Outside? Selective Enforcement!

The last Friday of the month the City of North Miami hosts an evening jazz concert outside of the art museum and tthere's a Gallery Walk where all the art galleries stay open late. You can either wander around on your own or take the guided walk. It's also the night when galleries open new exhibits.

I was in froint of Mario Flores' Gallery wher I had some photographs hanging on the wall. It's against the law to smoke inside these days. Several of us kept wandering outside to light up. That's when you discover how many people there really are who "gave up smoking, honest, but could I bum one off of you?"

We carried our wine glasses out with us. Of course it's against the law to drink alcaholic beverages outside on the sidewalk. We were directly across the street from City Hall, half a block from the Police Station. Talk about flaunting the law! If this had been a blue collar bar we all would have spent the night in jail. Somehow or another the rules are different when you're dealing with art collectors, business owners, lawyers, doctors, acountants, and the like. They just kept wandering in and out of galleries, wine glass in hand. But they made damned sure that they didn't smoke inside. At least you can smoke in a real bar!

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.

The Shaman Greeting The Non-believers

As usual I was the first to arrive at the meeting and rather than waste twenty minutes I decided to get my system loaded up with enough nicotine to get through two hours of boredom. At one time you could actually smoke anywhere within public buildings. Then they went to the "smokers on this side, non-smokers on that side" concept, followed by having a break every so often, but God forbid it should be called a cigarette break! Over the years the gaggle of people rushing for the door dwindled to a trickle. People waggle their finger in your face while reciting the mantra "Smoking is bad for you". The formal breaks gave way to sneaking out for a quick smoke.

Tobacco was first cultivated by the American Indians and introduce to the European colonists. The Indians enjoyed the mild euphoria, the calming effects, and looked upon the plant as, well, perhaps sacred. Passing the pipe around was a often a ceremonial way of greeting or making friends, hence the term Peace Pipe.

The definition of a shaman is a mystical spiritual leader who uses a mind altering substance, which includes alcohol according to the literature that I consulted. Yup, it says that a Catholic priest is a shaman, it actually does. It's those sips of wine! Recently it's been found that the nicotine in tobacco not only increases cognitive ability but also delays the onset of Alzheimers. It's not all bad after all. Judging by the thinking processes that I'm assaulted with at some of these civic and government meetings they should not only allow smoking, they should insist on it. I try my best though to make sure that there's at least one brain present with functioning neurons. It's my civic duty.