Miami Every Day Photo

Fountain Maintenance

2012-01-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

This is the face of South Miami's City Hall. Its address is 6130 Sunset Drive, Miami, Florida 33143. The water fountain is getting a clean up this morning. This is the location for a weekly farmers' market each Saturday that started in January of last year and it runs from 9 AM to 2 PM where you can find freshly picked produce such as locally grown watermelon, radishes, oyster mushrooms and other vegetable. The administrative office of the city hall is a few steps beyond and it looks like this.

It's a Jungle

2012-01-28T23:52:00.003-05:00

Look at this display of bougainvillea that totally took over the entire balcony of this large building on Sunset Drive and SW 63 Avenue. Because they are very thorny, I can imagine it will be quite difficult to trim these plants to a more manageable size. Because they are so showy when in bloom, bougainvilleas are popular ornamental plants in most areas with warm climates. Looking closely, you will realize that the actual bougainvillea flower is small and white. Each cluster of three tiny flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colors of hues of pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. The showiness is from the bracts. Bougainvillea glabra is called "bong giay" in Vietnamese, translated as "paper flower" because the bracts are thin and papery.

Missing Ingredient

2012-01-27T23:59:00.000-05:00

At least twice a year, the carambola tree (star-fruit) bears fruits and January is one of the two months that these trees are loaded with the waxy star-shaped fruits that ripen to a bright yellow-orange color. The other month it has fruits is September. In Miami, this tree, if not grown commercially, is totally under-utilized. The fruits are left untouched and they just fall to the ground and wasting away. Despite that, these star-fruits sell quite expensively at grocery stores. This photo shows a mature tree that is quite large that lives in the fruit tree section of the Montgomery Botanical Center. I recently finished making a devilishly delicious fish soup and just realized I forgot that star-fruits, once added to the mix, make the fish soup taste even better. Rats! Need to do that again soon.

No Babesiosis Here

2012-01-26T17:11:00.001-05:00

Twice a year, I do this: donate blood. And today is the day. I am never alone and am always in the company of many friends to make a trip by the bloodmobile of the Community Blood Centers of Florida worthwhile. In order to be accepted, you must be identified and must answer a long list of questions that determine your eligibility to be a safe donor. This year, one new question got all of us baffled: what the heck is Babesiosis? Do we have it? Not that I know of, mam! That turns out to be a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with Babesia, a genus of protozoal piroplasms, the second most common blood parasites of mammals. In North America, the disease is primarily found in eastern Long Island, Fire Island, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard off of the coast of Massachusetts and the northern midwestern and New England states. It is called "The Malaria of The Northeast." Now that I know what that is, I am sure I ain't got it!

It's not me in this photo. It's my friend Bruce, and that's his pint of blood that goes to help someone someday somewhere. We all feel great and we got a free fruit juice afterwards for our trouble.

Females Outnumber Males

2012-01-25T20:22:00.003-05:00

Just like Women outnumber Men in buying the expensive Starbucks coffee, the Triplaris species, aka the ant tree and also the long john tree exhibits the same behavior. There was a worldwide observation made in the wild, and it was believed that Triplaris species is female skewed. In simpler English, that says that you naturally find more female than male trees in the wild. So the natural question is why so. Back when money was more easily available, there were studies to find answers to this mystery and one answer is that male Triplaris is exhausted and dies younger than its female counterpart after its effort in reproduction. Wow! Sex does kill! The long explanation is that guy Triplaris expend their pollen with abandon without any calculation to preserve its valuable resource while attempting to fertilize as many nearby females as possible; while female Triplaris are more careful making seeds to ensure that they are not produced in vain. The end result is that they prevail longer. Far fetched? You can look up these research papers if you don't believe me (Sex Ratio in the Tropical Tree Triplaris americana (Polygonaceae,) Melampy and Howe, November 1976.) That theory translates well into my own personal experience. I found one pair of Triplaris sp.: one male and one female. I found a cluster of females and only one male Triplaris cumingiana... and today, I found a lone female Triplaris americana. There are indeed more gal than guy Triplaris in Miami. Looking at this ant tree, you must agree that it fits the long john description to a "T." In any case, all the Triplaris are in bloom at this time so it's real easy to recognize them... just look for spectacular red flowers high above the canopies while you walk around in Miami.

Classic Bimmer

2012-01-24T23:30:00.000-05:00

In South Miami, Commerce Lane is a very charming small street that is just North of Sunset Drive, between SW 68th and 70th streets. This street has many an entrepreneurial little shops that service automobiles of all makes. There are many body shops here to give cars damaged in accidents a face lift for a new life. This is also the place you can find restored antique cars. Here is a 1968 bimmer (that's the affectionate name given to BMW cars,) BMW 1600 GT. One seller claims that there are only 300 such cars remaining in the world and wants a whopping US $70K for his car. This car is supposedly designed by Pietro Frua, the legend who designed the Maserati, Lamborghini and the Glas 2300, the famous “Glaserati.” Would you buy a 1968 car? I am not so sure I would... Do you see the side rear view mirrors... way out there? I had MGs like that and it was not fun to adjust them! You need an assistant outside to move the mirrors for you. Did Mr. Frua design that? I wonder!

Lunar New Year

2012-01-23T22:47:00.002-05:00

According to the Yin/Yang twin combined with the Five Elements and Twelve Animals of the cyclic lunar calendar theory, a brand new lunar year begins today, and it is the Yang Water Dragon. Do you know that such combinations (Yin or Yang/One of the Five elements/One of the Twelve animals) only occur once every 60 years? That means that the next Yang Water Dragon will be in 2072.

It is considered by some that it brings good fortune to have an Ochna integerrima in full bloom on the first day of the new year. The owner of this tree tried but it seems that his calculation was off this year. Below is how the tree looks today. It should look like this. Do I believe in any of this? Nah! One thing is certain... I won't be blogging this when the next Yang Water Dragon shows up the next time.

Chocolate for a Water Dragon

2012-01-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

It's the lunar new year eve of the Water Dragon year, and there is a chocolate festival inside Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG) for the last 3 days, including today which is the last day. There was a huge crowd that came today because everybody craves for chocolate. That was a must do event, so I was eager to show up. The best place I found was Oliver Kita stand.

Oliver Kita Fine Chocolates is often described as the Premiere Chocolate Shops from Hudson Valley. It makes vegan organic chocolate bars and other delectable creations in the Hudson Valley area. Cooking and baking with the perfumes and flavors of flowers, herbs, citrus, exotic fruits, berries, nuts, and spices over the last 20 years, Oliver Kita now adds fine chocolates for chocolate lovers around the world.

They claim to use top quality French organic and Swiss sources of ingredients and traditional French methods. Using ingredients such as heavy satin cream, award-winning sweet butter, fine fruits, low sugar, carefully selected and roasted nuts etc... their end products are beautiful hand-crafted artfully designed bits that beg to be eaten.

They created sinful collections with names such as: Organic, Studio, Inspiring, Rejuvenating, Satisfying, Soothing, Comforting, Fashion, Spiritual, Hot Chocolate and Great Estates. My favorite is Inspiring: All dark chocolate with dramatic tastes some with chunks of exotic fruit inside fragrant dark chocolate... no milk, please! You see some of the empty slots in these boxes? Guess who helped that out!

What's For Dinner?

2012-01-21T16:11:00.000-05:00

Life has many annoyances, one of which is you've got to eat. I understand there are gurus who only need to eat once in a long, long while. But I am not one of them and everyday I have to worry about what's next. Today, my guts told me they need not a hamburger, not a steak, not spaghetti, no fettuccine... but something different. You guessed it, and here I am at my trusted local Publix supermarket. In Miami, it is not a straight forward thing to find fresh fish. Cheap fresh fish? You can forget that silly notion. But the fish they have here, when they have them, are not bad so fish soup it is that I will cook up today. I have to rely on the man behind the counter there to prepare the fish for me. It is not a task that I want to do myself, simply because I don't know how to scale a fish and this man knows it so he is happy to help me. Today, yellowtail is US $7.99 a pound and red snapper is $9.99 a pound. Yellowtails are the smaller creatures on the left side... not the long fellows with the dots, they are mackerels...; and the red snappers are red ones to the right. Would you believe I know the secret to make 5 star fish soup? A tomato or two, some fresh onions... a top secret mixture of herbs and spice et voila, the best fish soup in Miami in person. Drop me a line and I may invite you... depends on who you are, of course.

Aeae

2012-01-20T23:51:00.007-05:00

Take a look at tog's Aeae banana today. It has a huge stalk of fingers of impressive size. This is a Koae or Aeae variety, believed to have origins from the islands of Hawaii. Research says it is doing best in cool, moist woodlands at elevations of 500 to 1,000 feet. But they do great right here too, judged by this enormous bunch. Both Aeae banana's variegated foliage and fruit of green beautifully striped with white streaks make this plant one of the most attractive of the banana varieties. Because this photo does not show you the beautiful leaves, you can see a sample of it here. Koae is the only variegated variety growing in Hawaii and it is well known to Hawaiians. This variety is more of a plantain type which is a fair cooking banana and it is rarely eaten raw. Bananas are very rich in carbohydrates, vitamin C, A and some B; and several important minerals, including potassium, copper, magnesium, calcium, and iron. Being a plantain, Aeae has high starch and low sugar levels plus copious amounts of bitter-tasting latex. To break down the stinging, bitter latex, Aeae's pulp is soaked in salt water for about 10 minutes before cooking. Because a fungus known as the Panama disease once nearly wiped out all of the edible bananas plantations, tog is now very worried that some caterpillars are killing all his precious Aeaes. That would be terrible!

Undesirable

2012-01-19T23:47:00.008-05:00

The fruits littering my yard you see here is not from my tree. This "Lucuma" tree belongs to my next door neighbor. Every year, at this time, these fruits fall to my side and go to waste. No one, but no one, myself, cats, birds, squirrels, possums, raccoons, ants, insects... eat these fruits. They just slowly decompose and vanish into thin air. The tree producing these fruits is a Pouteria campechiana of the Sapotaceae family. It is also known as Lucuma campechiana or Lucuma nervosa. I remember this fruit from my childhood, and it was known as the "Likima" fruit.

Pouteria campechiana is an erect tree growing quite large. The flowers are bisexual, cream colored with silky hair and fragrant. This tree's canistel fruit is green when unripe and turns golden yellow as it ripens. The flesh is yellow with a pasty texture similar to the texture of a hard-boiled egg and is known as the egg fruit. I think I tasted this fruit once and never again will try. I vaguely remember it tasted like paste, indescribable and quite yucky. I understand why no one I know wants to eat them.

Young Seed Pods

2012-01-18T22:56:00.001-05:00

My search and research for the Alstonia scholaris has come full circle and this shot is from the tree opposite the ant tree I showed yesterday. The October flowers are gone and the tree is now full of young seed pods. They come profusely in pairs of long bean like pods. I am not sure when they will mature to contain seeds, but at this time, these pods are very brittle and they are full of thick and milky sap. I know, I broke one off by accident and the sap oozed out like a small river. This is very similar to what happens when you stake a jack fruit. Did you ever do that? Don't!

Scarlet Long John

2012-01-17T20:01:00.000-05:00

There are two major botanical gardens in Miami, one is world reknown which is the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG.) The other one is virtually only known to the scientific circles, unknown otherwise even to native Miamians; and that is the Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC.) Fairchild and Montgomery were close friends and their former properties are located adjacent to each other. MBC has the Triplaris sp. that you can see here; and FTBG has a beautiful Triplaris cumingiana that is in full bloom right now. This tree is on the North side of FTBG's Palm Glade and it towers over a water lily pond. Directly opposite it on the other side is a beautiful Alstonia scholaris (the Vietnamese "Milk Flower" tree.) Looking at this photo, you may think that this T. cumingiana is a large tree. It is not so because this is a cluster of many trees, each one truly earns its "Long John" nick name. Today, the ground surrounding these trees are littered with red fuzzy seed pods with three blade wings. I got a handful of them and if lucky, I may begin to have baby T. cumingiana.

This place is so peaceful that on week days, you can sit here and may only hear the wind whispers and occasional foot steps of lizards.

Gorgeous

2012-01-16T23:55:00.001-05:00

It's a fabulous day in Miami. It's MLK (Martin Luther King) holiday and many have the day off while Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has many visitors who came to enjoy this great day outdoors. You can't imagine how lucky we are living here in Miami. This is a shot at the Palm Glade in front of Glade Lake in the garden. It is flanked to the left by a huge Triplaris cumingiana in full bloom with scarlet flowers; and to the right by a huge Alstonia scholaris full of ripening seed pods. You can't see these two favorite trees of mine in this photo, but do not despair... come back for more... Because schools are out, the kids are here in force... and being kids, they are chasing muticolored lizards and here trying to figure out how deep this 2 feet water lily pond is.

Fascination!

2012-01-15T14:09:00.000-05:00

Don't you wish you can turn back the time arrow and revert to this stage of your life when your needs and wants were pure and simple?

It's Cold in Miami

2012-01-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

There is a cold front that drops Miami's temperature to sweater weather today. It's cold outside, for Miami. When it gets cold, you feel for men like this poor soul. He is getting the sun warmth on the ground outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken on US-1, covered under a tattered thin dirty zebra blanket with holes here and there, clutching two one dollar bills and a few loose pennies. He is not asking for a handout and was listening to an old handset attached to his right ear. I wonder when his batteries will run out.

Yellow Is The Color That I Love

2012-01-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

There is a saying "Nothing lasts forever, and the deepest well runs dry..." which seems to apply well to this place... About 4 years ago, the bougainvillea growing here was quite spectacular... but today, I think it's less of a dazzle display than that of yesteryears. In my opinion, the key ingredient that is missing is the color yellow. Yellow bougainvillea is notoriously hard to stay alive and they do not last as long as others of different colors. White bougainvillea is even more difficult to grow here than yellow. Purple seems to be the color that survives best in Miami. In this photo, you can see the climbing tendency of bougainvillea from the color patches on the neighboring young oak. Even the fence has shown its age. Hey, I didn't notice that it's Friday the Thirteenth! But I am not superstitious, it's bad luck to be that way!

Moonless Moonlight Tour

2012-01-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the first of the four "Moonlight Tour" at Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Once a month starting in January, a night tour is offered to the public to have a chance of experiencing nature at its best at dark. Tonight, unfortunately, the sky is cloudy and the moon only rises after the tour concludes. That resulted in a Moonless Moonlight Tour and the star gazing part could not take place. However, just walking in this garden at night is what I think one is very privileged to be able to enjoy. You have seen only part of a beautiful rain tree where lovers of all ages carved their initials on its trunk, illegally, I must say. In case you do not remember, that is an Albizia niopoides, which is the largest and most elegant of about 150 species of the Albizia trees; and it is related to the Rain Tree. This is how it looks in the dark, showcased for tonight's tour by strategically placed spot lights. I can just sit here all night to look at this. This view is Northwesterly, the moon, which was full on the 9th, is early waning and rises from the East at 9:24PM tonight. It will be shining above this tree just about dawn. That will be a beautiful sight to see, but I don't think I can stay up that long to wait for this moment. Can't win them all but I know I can catch that some day.

Not Dragon Tattoo

2012-01-11T23:54:00.002-05:00

In Miami, you will run into many individuals with very intricate tattoos on their bodies. This is one example. I tried to figure out what the tattoos are saying but it's not that easy. If you can make it out, let me know. If you are interested in this kind of art, look here. There is a new movie adapted from the Swedish trilogy books by Stieg Larsson with a catchy name "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." In the original Swedish film, you can catch a very brief glimpse at the famous dragon tattoo which is a huge dragon spreading on the entire back of the actress, Noomie Rapace. Now, that's a tattoo. The dragon you see in this photo comes from a poster for the new movie. I don't think that's good enough because this is puny and does not match the fiery personality of Lisbeth at all. I hope this baby dragon tattoo is not what is on the back of Rooney Mara, the actress in the American remake in 2011. This reminds me I have to watch this new movie for comparison with the original version.

Talking about the Dragon Tattoo begs the showing of them in the two versions of the same movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," so here they are:

The Swedish version - 2009 - Noomie Rapace:

and the American version - 2011 - Rooney Mara:

Four Feet Under

2012-01-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

Please do not freak out when you see another blog about cemetery. I am not so dark as to spend all my time lurking around these places... but I was doing some research, and the subject was "Six Feet Under." That was a quite popular television show running during the years 2001 - 2005 in the US about, you guessed it, a funeral home serving as the set for a dark comedy to deal with death. In French, it's "Six Pieds Sous Terre." So, why "Six Feet?"

It turns out that, at least in the US, burial laws are very complicated and vary from state to state. The legally required minimum burial depth is not uniform by any means, and it can be quite shallower than 6 feet. That term really is a myth. For instance, in New Orleans, if you dig down 6 feet, you'll be all wet because the swamps and marshlands were drained and turned into habitable land.

Here we are in Miami, and at this Caballero Rivero Woodlawn cemetery at SW 117th Avenue and 116th Street, you can see that it is clearly not 6, but only 4 feet which is the standard depth for a burial site here. The man preparing the site is about 6 feet tall and there is about 2 feet of him towering above ground level. One major concern is that there should not be any contamination to the surrounding areas, thus the strict laws that govern all burials anywhere in the state of Florida.

Did you ever wonder where that term came from? Ask me!

Miss Page

2012-01-09T23:49:00.001-05:00

Here at the corner of Bird Road (SW 40th Street) and 67th Avenue, according to the poster displayed by this man, I think I can come looking for Miss Page to see if she can give me some advice... A palmist read my palms, both of them, Saturday and said to me things that did not sound too rosy. No wonder my water supply in the house broke! Miss Page, here I come!

Because the Sky is Blue

2012-01-08T21:29:00.001-05:00

I do like Miami's zenith and look up there very often. Today, there was a small corporate jet up there flying to who knows where... and the sky is so blue!

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Click on the player above to hear another song by the Beatles... This is really my favorite... Because...

Mega Lighting

2012-01-07T23:56:00.005-05:00

Every time I drive by this Pego Lamps store which is on South US-1, especially at night like right now, I would like to see the store's monthly electric bill, but would not want to be the person to pay it.

Cananga odorata

2012-01-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

I have an Ylang-Ylang tree (Cananga odorata) and you can see it here. The tree you see in today's photo is a different and larger (and older) tree. This tree is remarkable because it seems to have flowers all the time. Every time I walk under it and look up, I can always find its yellow flowers, as opposed to the greenish color of the flowers from my tree. The scent of this tree is delightfully mysterious and hard to describe. One way to characterize this scent is what follows:

"The fragrance of Ylang-Ylang is rich and deep with traces of rubber and custard; bright with hints of jasmine and neroli. The essential oil of the flowers is obtained through steam distillation followed by separation into different grades according to when the distillates are obtained. The main aromatic components of Ylang-Ylang oil are benzyl acetate, linalool, p-cresyl methyl ether, and methyl benzoate, responsible for its characteristic odor."

Here It Comes

2012-01-05T23:21:00.000-05:00

It's here, a new restaurant at what I call the Kamikaze restaurant location: The Mexzican Gourmet is now open. It's Mexican and it came from a truck root by Mexican born celebrity chef Ze Carlos Jimenez. Now you know where the "Z" came from. I have a huge prejudice and this is one food I do not like so I'll pass, but I'll keep track of how this is doing over time.

Ochna integerrima

2012-01-04T23:59:00.001-05:00

Last year, you saw this tree in bloom at the right time to greet last year's Lunar calendar New Year of the Cat (or Rabbit if you follow the Chinese teaching.) This is how it looks today, beautiful with delicate yellow flowers everywhere. This is the famed Ochna integerrima that you see here and there on this blog, usually around the coming of a lunar new year. Following the Cat is the Dragon, my most favorite mythical sacred animal. The new Dragon year will begin this month on the 23rd which is a full 19 days from today. Did the owner of this tree make an error in his calculation? Is this tree too early? Will it run out of steam on the dates it is expected to bloom? We will find out on January 23rd.

It's Too Cold Here!

2012-01-03T23:53:00.002-05:00

It's too cold and I can't think straight! I had no idea that a potent cold front was arriving and I am freezing here in Miami, of all places! Let's talk about some warm places, like Egypt so I can feel warmer. Here is what a potent cold front does to Miami: it creates more work than necessary. What you see is an area populated with doum palms, aka gingerbread tree (Hyphaene thebaica.) These palms are extremely sensitive to cold and the young ones need to be protected. They are covered with burlap sheets to withstand the "brutal" cold temperatures that may dip into the mid thirties tonight. It's always a hard decision to make when choosing which trees need to be covered. That's a lot of work, especially in the cold air like this.

Doum palm is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is native to the Nile valley in Egypt and Sudan, and at borders of rivers of northwestern Kenya. Its fibre and leaflets are used by people along the Nile to weave baskets. This palm is considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians and if you ever venture inside many pharaoh's tombs, you may find some of the seeds there because the fruits are traditionally offered at funerals. Would you believe they recently found baskets of 3,000 year old doum fruit in King Tutankhamun's tomb? That's true!

In Egypt, the fruit is sold by street vendors, and is popular among children... and I can use the Egyptian herb tea of doum dates right now because it's a cold night in Miami. The tea is also good for hypertension, not that I am saying I got that problem!

Here is a homework for you readers... These palms are not from Egypt, but they came from Burkina Faso. I knew you wouldn't know where that is on earth... and I will let you find out for yourselves. Hints: It's mighty hot there in Ouagadougou!

MG-A

2012-01-02T23:42:00.001-05:00

Yearly, Miami has a Junior Orange Bowl parade in the main streets of Coral Gables. This year is its 63rd annual parade and this is the staging area of the Mahi Shriners procession that includes many original cars, one of which is the object of my desire, a beautifully restored cherry red MG-A. This car may be one of the 1959 vintage. The Mahi Shriners is a non-profit organization of volunteers for charity and they are always present at the Miami Junior Orange Bowl parade every year. They seem to be a very shy organization and there is not much information that is available to mine but their beautiful cars are always fun to watch in this parade.

My Favorite Thing

2012-01-01T22:51:00.000-05:00

On the first day of each month, there is a theme that people try to abide to. It's "Photo of the Year" this time. My photos are not that good and I found none that would deserve that accolade... but I do have my most favorite which is this one. It's my favorite spot in Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

Strawberry Fields Forever

2011-12-31T23:55:00.000-05:00

It's almost midnight on the last day of the year 2011. I always feel melancholic at this time of the year. Today, I was far South at a rural place called the Knaus Berry Farm. This is a very popular place in the deep farming area called Redland, on SW 248th street (Coconut Palm Drive) and 159 Avenue. The Knaus Berry Farm and Bakery opens only mid-November thru the last Saturday in April. There is always a long line to get into their counter for some of the finest fresh baked goods, featuring their cinnamon buns, money can buy in South Florida. This farm, started over 50 years ago, is operated by the Knaus family, who are Dunkers (a sect of German Baptists) with a reputation for outstanding produce and fresh flowers, fruit flavored milkshakes and homemade ice cream.

In the back, near cherry tomato and tomato fields, is a strawberry field, kept meticulously manicured as you can see in the photo below. Unfortunately, their strawberries cannot be picked today, but the sweet strawberries can be bought inside.

Standing in front of this field, I can't help but to think about the famous song "Strawberry Fields Forever," which is a song written by John Lennon of the famed Beatles, inspired by Lennon's memories of playing in the garden of a Salvation Army house named "Strawberry Field" near his childhood home. This song was released in February 1967 and it was considered one of the Beatles' best recordings, defining works of the psychedelic rock genre. The song is soulful reflecting the nostalgia of days bygone. The music composition is very complicated with Lennon playing dissonant notes from his Mellotron. The lyrics are hard to understand, and you would need to do some research to know their true meaning reflecting Lennon's deep psyche at that time. It's beautiful once you understand. I am not going into that here to keep this blog short.

If you live in New York, you should know that there is a Strawberry Fields memorial in New York City's Central Park, named after the song.

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Click on the player above to hear Strawberry Fields Forever from the soundtrack of Across the Universe, by the Beatles...

Venus

2011-12-30T23:46:00.002-05:00

It is only about 6:30PM but you wouldn't know from the dark sky and the lights in the streets of Miami. We have shorter days after September like everybody else. This is US-1 going South at the Falls (SW 136th street.) Only when it's dark that you can see the nice neon lighting at the top of the tower that is the Falls shopping center's landmark. During this time of year, Miami's sky is mostly clear at nights and the starry sky is usually spectacular, especially if you are somewhat interested in astronomy. Last month's sky night was dominated by Jupiter but now Venus is taking over. The bright spot you see above the tower is the planet Venus representing the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky and it is known as the Morning Star or Evening Star. In December, Evening Star it is, and it is a beautiful sight in Miami many nights.

You can safely ignore the reddish glow on top of this photo. That is not any building because Miami does not have many buildings that tall. What you see is the reflection of the dashboard of my car. If you can read that, it says 18:26 which is the time this photo was taken.

Goddess of love... fancy that!

New Year "Summit"

2011-12-29T20:45:00.001-05:00

Every year, about this time, I can't help to pay attention to this beauty. Isn't this gorgeous? I never mentioned that this Cattleya orchid never fails to bloom right around the new year. Left untouched, this will become a very large specimen. It received an award (not this one, but this species) and was named "Summit." You see the growth at the bottom? In a few days, two or three more flowers will emerge from the protective sheath to greet the new year 2012. These orchids not only are beautiful, they have a faint but delightful scent in the mornings too.

Winged Seeds

2011-12-28T21:45:00.003-05:00

I can't wait forever for the experts to give me an answer so I am having my own theory regarding this T. sp. The beautiful red flowers you saw did last a long, long time and they went through some interesting color changing cycles. Now they have become winged seeds. I parked my car about 10 meters away from this tree today and after about 3 hours, more than a dozen of these brown three-winged seeds landed on it. From red, the flowers turned milky white as can be seen at the top of this photo, then brown which is the color of the fuzzy winged seeds. I hope the seeds I now have will germinate some day. I still would like to know how these flowers get pollinated. There is also a theory that the ants that nest inside the branches have something to do with that.

Critically Endangered

2011-12-27T20:31:00.000-05:00

In Miami, you see many beautiful royal palms (Roystonea regia) which is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Caribbean Islands, and the adjacent coasts of Florida, Central and South America. Although royal palms are considered a "tropical" palm, they can grow as far North as Daytona Beach and Jacksonville and also in Southern California, southern Arizona and the extreme southern Texas barrier islands near the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. They are on the right in this photo.

On the left side, you see the Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, aka the Palmiste Marron, or Spindle Palm which is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family. Spindle palms grow in the USA only in south Florida and in isolated favored microclimates in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area and the Cape Canaveral area of central Florida. Spindle Palms come from Rodrigues island, Mauritius. It is critically endangered and included in the red list of threatened species.

Casual Miami

2011-12-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

If you have never been to Miami, this is how some of us dress... very casual. My guess is that these two youngsters accompany their elder to an optometrist office for a visit. Notice the difference in style between the young colorful and carefree; and the more conservative older and wiser look. We love our sports and support them by wearing hats. Older visors point forward and younger ones point backward. Now you are an expert in Miami's fashion according to its popular youth culture.

Green Christmas

2011-12-25T09:34:00.015-05:00

It's Christmas in Miami. We regret to say that we never ever, ever, ever had, have or will have a white Christmas here (well, I take it back, may be in a million years or so, when theoretically earth may have a new ice age, Miami may then have a white Christmas...) But look what we do have year round: bananas.

Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic bananas come from the two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of bananas are Musa acuminata. In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas. By contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called plantains or "cooking bananas". The distinction is arbitrary and both terms are used interchangeably. Banana bunches can be as large as 7 or 8 foot in length. This variety is much smaller, but these dwarf bananas are delicious. You can see that the owners pick them on a daily basis. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red; and they are a reliable source of potassium.

My doctor forced me to eat more bananas because he says I need more "K" and I oblige happily. Such a monkey I am!

Silent Night

2011-12-24T22:23:00.001-05:00

It's Christmas Eve and in the US, it's a big deal! Tomorrow is Christmas Day and the kids will wake up taking inventory of what they got from Santa Claus who is supposed to come sometime tonight through the chimneys. Somehow, Santa kept track of who's naughty and who's nice and distributes his freebees accordingly. Expensive iPhone 4S or iPad2 with 64 GB of memory to nice ones, and low end Kindles or Snooks to naughty ones. Fresh from American mythology, Santa is supposed to fly across the skies in his sleigh loaded with state-of-the-art toys and electronic gadgets that is pulled by a team of reindeer. Due to the difference in time zones, the trip has started and in one of the pit stops for refreshment, one of his reindeer had one too many and I caught him red nose'ed in this clip. I guess Santa left him behind because he's obviously in no condition to pull the sleigh. Click on the photo to view the video and to see what's he so happy about. If you can't figure out what he's saying (or singing,) don't worry. I can't figure that out either. If you celebrate Christmas, have a Merry One! If not, enjoy the mini video anyway. You know, I stole it from YouTube. So convenient! Thanks to the person(s) who managed to put this video on the web for us to enjoy.

Kitty Kitty

2011-12-23T22:24:00.000-05:00

Now, how can you not blog this? This is one of the two cats that live in my backyard. I think this one is a she and she may be expecting, else she must have just eaten a big meal. She is very shy and would not let me come close. In this pose, she seems to be very happy... as long as I do not get any closer. Left to their own device, these animals can survive quite well in Miami because the weather is clement and there are plenty of food for them to hunt.

F. racemosa

2011-12-22T23:52:00.004-05:00

This is a ficus tree. Its name is F. racemosa and it is the same species as that of the wishing tree in the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Yoko Ono's wishing tree. With this one today, you can see how it bears its fruits. Again, its Vietnamese name is "Sung."

Miami Tough Life

2011-12-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

How's this? You wake up, put on your short and floppy, put the top down, make a quick run to your local dry cleaner... then you stop by to get a late morning quick lunch at your favorite local outdoor cafe... and wait for a hot date in a South Beach night club... Yeah, dream on! But you can certainly enjoy a beautiful day like this fit for a very pleasant outdoor life in Miami at this time.

Manatee Fest

2011-12-20T21:43:00.000-05:00

South Miami "downtown" is ready for the 2011 Christmas season. Here and there along the streets, intermingled with decorated Christmas trees, you can see statues of a large manatee cradling a baby manatee. This is one such statue in front of a very fine Italian restaurant, the Trattoria Sole. All the manatee statues have the same size and basically the same mother-son manatees (I am merely repeating local news reports to say that this is a mother and a baby manatee... in fact, who is to say that it is not a father and daughter, or other possible combinations?) except they are all different in artistic details. These are the work by local pop artist Alex Yanes sponsored by the various local merchants. This particular statue sponsored by the Mile High Karate martial art school is named "Zen." These statues are the objects showcasing the South Miami Manatee Fest for 2011 - 2012.

Fearless

2011-12-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

This is becoming a habitually repeating sight at this location: a restaurant venture in a BAD place. You saw the last failed attempt as recently as in August this year. But it seems that newcomers have no fear of history repeating, they keep coming. Meet the new brave entrepreneur to open here sometime in the future.

OMG!

2011-12-18T20:37:00.000-05:00

If you have time and find yourself in South Miami, take a stroll and you will discover many hidden treasures. I walked into one and OMG! If you have been living under a rock and do not know what that means, it's Oh My God! "Petits Fours!" That is what you see on the bottom shelf, these decadent French delicatessen. A petit four (plural: petits fours) is a small confection generally eaten at the end of a meal (e.g., with coffee) or served as part of dessert. The name is from the French petit four, meaning "small oven".

There are two different categories of petits fours. Petits fours secs (sec meaning "dry") include a variety of small desserts, such as special dainty biscuits, baked meringues, macarons, and puff pastries. Petits fours glacés (glacé meaning "iced") are iced or decorated, such as tiny cakes covered in fondant or glacé icing, small éclairs, and tartlets. In a French patisserie, assorted small desserts are usually called mignardises, while hard, buttery biscuits are called petits fours. There are also petits fours salés (salé meaning "salted" or "savoury"), which are bite-sized salted appetizers usually served as part of cocktail parties or buffets. I do not care much for the salted type at all, but I can eat the other type with abandon!

I was looking for a place that has the "petits fours," and now that I found them here, in one of the two "Chocolate Fashion" bakeries in Miami which is on Sunset Drive, I am working on rearranging my budget to move these on the top line item. Here comes the bulge at the belt line!

Deli Lane

2011-12-17T17:40:00.004-05:00

At the corner of Sunset Drive and US-1 in South Miami, you can find this cafe that is a very popular spot for lunch on weekends. You can see that its outdoor terrace is packed on this gorgeous Saturday morning in paradise South Miami. Some of my friends swear for the pressed duck sandwich they find here, but I do slightly differ on that. I tried it once and well.. what can I say? Didn't think that got many stars from my rating. Nevertheless, it is a great place to sit and enjoy life with friends. Only in Miami!

The Mother of All Santas

2011-12-16T23:40:00.003-05:00

If you follow the news, you'd have known that on Thursday, December 15th which was yesterday, the Iraq War officially ended after a long nine year. The phrase "The Mother of All..." was popularized during this infamous Iraqui war by the now defunct President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, after his invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Bulletins to Iraqi citizens advised them to prepare for an invasion and "the Mother of All Battles" promised in a speech if the US-led coalition forces of one attempted to evict his army of occupation from Kuwait. The phrase "Mother of All Battles" was a translation of the Arabic expression "Umm al-Ma'arik." This is a common literary trope in Arabic public rhetoric. As Saddam's audience would have understood, it refers to the Battle of Al-Qādisiyyah in AD 637, when an Arab army defeated the Persians.

With that firmly in mind, now you understand the true meaning of the title of today's blog. You can't find another Santa that is larger than this one. Don't even think about trying! This Santa clearly says out loud that you can stop by to get your Christmas tree here at the intersection of SW 117th Avenue and 87th Street. I can safely ignore all this because I have a "Mother of All Fake Christmas Trees" that is at least 30 year old but still looks like a real tree every year.

Best Choir

2011-12-15T19:23:00.001-05:00

I was at a luncheon today and had the chance to listen to an excellent choral recital. This is a yearly event organized by the Rotary Club of Coral Gables (RCCG) and because this is Coral Gables, tog was there too! This year, the Everglades Legacy Choir of the Everglades Senior High School in Miramar won the Rotary Music Award from the RCCG . Today, they are here at the atrium inside the Coral Gables Country Club to give a great holiday cheers performance and to demonstrate why they won the Grand Prize Full Choir Senior Division winner of 2011 Caroling Competition AND winner of the 2011 Rotary Music Award ("Where Angels Lately Knelt" by Thomas Courtenay.)

The Legacy Choir is directed today by Mr. Shanpatrick Davis who is its director for the past eight years and who has been a voice teacher for 13 years. This year, in May, Everglades had the pleasure of touring and performing in the New York Area. Next year, also in May, they will tour Washington D.C. This choir is filled with dedicated individuals who all bring their vocal talents to enhance the choir's single voice. Together they sing with inspiration to leave a legacy that fills one's heart with music. I thoroughly enjoyed the short time they sang for the audience from the elevated platform in the atrium.

Fuzzy Worm Vine

2011-12-14T22:45:00.000-05:00

I have no idea what this vine is and I call it the "Fuzzy Worm Vine," but it is too aggressive. It has climbed all over my Ambarella (Spondias dulcis) tree and established a killer canopy over the top. It looks tough, but this vine is no match for my clipper. I hesitated a bit because it has beautiful purple flowers at every turns that become these fuzzy worm-looking fruits that do give me the willies! In only two days, this vine is all gone. My Ambarella tree must be very happy that it was rescued from an almost certain death by suffocation that can't be fun!

Lonely Bird

2011-12-13T23:44:00.000-05:00

If you feel that you are lonesome... put yourself in the shoes of this bird, a black heron (If you could see, you'd realize that this bird's feet are yellow.) Do birds have family to come back to at nights? Some do, but I am not sure about this one. The Black Heron (Egretta ardesiaca,) also known as the Black Egret, is an African heron. It is native South of the Sahara Desert, including Madagascar, and prefers shallow open waters, such as the edges of freshwater lakes and ponds. It may also be found in marshes, river edges, rice fields, and seasonally flooded grasslands. In coastal areas, it feeds along tidal rivers and creeks. The Black Heron has an interesting hunting method called canopy feeding by using its wings like an umbrella, and uses the shade to attract fish.

This bird startled me with a loud screech when it landed out of nowhere, in this botanical center. I was hoping to see it begin an attempt to catch fish by transforming its wings into an umbrella... but it was waiting for me to scoot so it can fish in peace.

Some herons feed in group, but this one is certainly all alone. I think it's sad to be a bird and I am glad I am not one with feathers and wings. A plus is being able to fly around without having to buy airline tickets... but I don't want to be alone. That's a bad deal, no, thanks!

Victoria's

2011-12-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of sultry women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It was started in San Francisco, California, in 1977 by Tufts University and Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Roy Raymond, who felt embarrassed trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in a department store environment. Really? You wouldn't catch me setting foot into this store either! He, Roy Raymond, opened the first store at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, and quickly followed it with a mail-order catalog and three other stores. In 1982, after five years of operation, he sold the Victoria's Secret company for a cool $4 Million. It now has sales of over US $5 Billion and an operating income of $1 Billion in 2006. Outside of the US, besides stores opened in Canada, the first Victoria's Secret stores outside North America opened in Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Can you believe that? Of all places! I would have never guessed! This one is more at home, in the Dadeland Mall in South Miami.

Boar's Head

2011-12-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

This is the deli section inside the Publix grocery store in Dadeland village. This is where I need to come to stock up on my easy way out for a speedy lunch. With this supply, I can whip up a sandwich (delicious, mind you) in about 10 minutes. In the US, we are paranoid about the things we eat... too many calories, too much cholesterol, too much fat, bad fat, good fat, too much carbohydrate, too many eggs, too few calcium, too few Omega 3, we need vitamin A, B, C, D, E, F, G... Sorry, I am going overboard here, I don't know why, but vitamins F and G have not been invented... but our biggest preoccupation is too much SALT! I am reluctant to worry about salt... but the assault against salt is relentless and I somehow got into the habit of reading the labels on stuffs I buy to eat or to cook with. If you did that, you would discover that we are surrounded by salt hiding inside our food.

At this place though, the Boar's Head folks who sell the infinite variety of goodies ready for making sandwich swear that they are salt masters and can make their food plenty good with far less salt than their competitors. I am not sure if that is true, but their stuffs are so good, I don't really care if they lie.

To tell you what I really think... if I want to control my daily sodium intake, it will take me... say... a half day each day to tabulate, measure and count all the milligrams of salt that get into my body. No... that's too much time lost. I'll let my kidneys worry about dealing with the salt. My plan is to talk to both of them once in a while to make sure they still work well. I remember in the old Tarzan movies I watched, the fellows who lived in the deep jungles would kill for a bag of salt. What happened to these good old days?

Datsun

2011-12-10T15:48:00.000-05:00

This is another lovingly restored classic car that you see once in a while in Miami's streets. It's a Datsun. I am not sure what year it is dated, but most likely in the late 60s.

Datsun was an automobile marque. The name was created in 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Co. for a new car model, spelling it as "Datson" to indicate its smaller size when compared to the existing, larger DAT car. Later, in 1933 after Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. took control of DAT Motorcar Co., the last syllable of Datson was changed to "sun", because "son" also means "loss" (損) in Japanese, and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag, hence the name "Datsun" : Dattosan (ダットサン Dattosan.) Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986. The Datsun name is most famous for the sports cars referred to as the Fairlady roadsters and later the Fairlady (240Z) coupes.

For the past 27 years, classic Datsun car owners meet for the Best of Show award. In July 2010, the 26th yearly Datsun Roadster Meet was held at Mt. Shasta. A pristine 1967 silver car from San Francisco won the coveted award. This one does not look as good and may not win that award, but it sure looks a lot better than my car.

Power Serve

2011-12-09T23:55:00.000-05:00

There is a championship tennis tournament going on at this time at Miami Dade College in its Kendall campus. It is called the Casely International Championships... and it shows. There is a large number of participants, all looking young, athletic, fit, formidable and exuberant. All the tennis courts are occupied and matches are being played continuously. Take a look at this young woman serving her tennis ball. It looks so professional. I would hate to be on the other side of the court when her ball strikes my racket. It probably would make a hole as large as a cannon ball. Ace! Or something like that is what they say.

Get Their Queen

2011-12-08T23:55:00.000-05:00

In Miami, we sometimes have to deal with fire ants. Do you know that fire ants do not bite? Worse, they sting like wasps and bees by holding on with their pliers-like-mouth and inject venom into your skin through a stinger. Ouch! That hurts like the devil. If that's your only problem, you may just stay away from their nests. But... I do grow a ficus tree and the fire ants nesting near the tree can quite quickly kill it by exposing the roots due to their tunneling network. So they must be dealt with using bait. The bait is a mixture of a carrier, attractants and a killing agent or insecticide. Dosage of the insecticide must be measured carefully so the ant workers cannot detect the poison, but it must be strong enough to exterminate the entire colony, including the queen. Easy said than done!

Here is a red ant mound that has been baited and as far as I can tell, the ants have all but disappeared. The yellow pellets are particles of bait. Now my ficus tree can be safe until the next battle with a new colony that may decide to migrate to this place.

Printed Books

2011-12-07T23:37:00.002-05:00

The South Miami Branch library is here at the address of 6000 Sunset Drive. Recently, it had an extensive remodeling that included a redesign water fall out in front. With the internet encroaching on every day's life, I fear for the survival of these landmarks. Everyone I know knows that Google is the way to get information... who would take the time to check out and read books from library any more? Mea Culpa! I no longer read printed books, and all my books are either on my laptops or my iPad, sadly so!

Walking Ficus

2011-12-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

You can find a large number of Banyan trees in Miami. This one is quite large and it demonstrates well how ficus trees "walk" and grow large to occupy extensive surface areas.

Ficus benghalensis is native of the Indian subcontinent. It produces propagating roots which grow downwards as aerial roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they grow into woody trunks that can become indistinguishable from the main trunk.

Also known as the Indian Banyan, F. bengalensis is the National tree of India and considered sacred. Worship is observed on a day in summer when the full moon occurs near the last star of the constellation Scorpio. There is a huge ficus tree known as the Great Banyan in the Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah. It is considered to be one of the largest trees in the world in terms of area covered.

When a toddler, I believed banyan trees are the home of scary ghosts and always ran as fast as I could when I had to go past them. I think I still believe that is true and would not come near here at night.

Dolce Vita

2011-12-05T14:08:00.002-05:00

Look at this Indian peacock (in his blue outfit) perching on this tree. Not an iota of worry in the world... perhaps only about how best to woo the next peahen. Such a good life!

Guys Are Cheap

2011-12-04T18:26:00.005-05:00

This is one of the two Starbucks in Dadeland Mall. There are two women buying the coffee here and no men so the score is 2 - 0. There is a theory about the gender gap concerning frequenters to Starbucks coffee shops: Women outnumber men six to one! Speaking for myself, as a male, I only go for this kind of strangely flavored coffee when I have to, but never, ever on my own doing. A theory ventures that women in general are more affluent than men. On the other hand, the majority of guys say that is a waste of money. So what do you think? Me? It's simply sexual dimorphism if you ask me.

In Ius Voco Spurius

2011-12-03T20:12:00.002-05:00

This is not quite Christmas, but it's getting close! Macy's has this "Believe Santa Mail" mail box for the kids to send their letters to Santa. I am sure the kids will ask for toys. If I could have it my way, I would force Macy's to answer all the letters with the corresponding toys the kids have asked for. It's too cruel otherwise... to mislead the kids into believing and get no reply or what they asked for. If you are a lawyer and you are reading this... did you get my gist?

Free Samples

2011-12-02T20:58:00.004-05:00

This is the food court smack in the middle of the Dadeland Mall in South Miami. This place is always full of people during lunch and dinner time. This is lunch, and the two very popular selections are the Mandarin Express and the Sarku Japan. Let me give you a good tip: You can come here and get almost a free lunch by taking samples from each of the food stalls here. The workers hand out small cups of free samples for passer by to taste. Beware though, you'd be consuming so much salt you may think you are related to the Atlantic ocean. I never spend any money here. I just come for the samples...

Action Shot

2011-12-01T19:28:00.001-05:00

You want to see action? Look at this... taken during the woman volleyball match between Florida State University (crimson red) and the University of Miami (green.) Watch out! The "red" team is going for the kill! You see the ball in mid air? It was nicely set up and the lady in red approaching the net is going to jump up and squat the ball over the net with such thundering force that there is no way the three "green" defenders on the other side can counter punch. I hope that was not the match point! Ouch!

Moon Waxing Over Jacaranda

2011-11-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

Here is a shot of the "almost" noon moon. Let me explain: The moon phase today is about 35.5 % full, waxing. It rose at 11:22 AM and will set at 11:05 PM tonight. Its "noon" position is at 5:11PM. This photo was taken at 4:11PM, an hour before its "noon." I am sure you know that one does not need to wait until dark to learn about astronomy. Looking up to the sky now, you can imagine you can see the Aquarius constellation to the left of the moon, Capricorn and Sagittarius to the right. Further down the ecliptic, Mars and Saturn have already set. Soon Venus, then Mars and finally the Sun will set. Then night will fall and Jupiter will rise... These beautiful things are all there although you can't see them in broad day light. The tree you see is my Jacaranda mimosifolia.

Extended Cyberday

2011-11-29T23:15:00.039-05:00

I used to carry around a big and heavy digital camera... No longer for over a year now because I prefer to use my cell phone for all the photos you see in this blog. Indirectly though, the new technology they invented made it to the cell phones, and the results sometimes are deceptive. Take this photo... it was taken at dusk and the sky was darker than it appears here. That is because this camera can take 4 snap shots to create a final "averaged" composite. That does wonder to the background. What I really want to show you is the red balloon in the sky that says in bold letter "SALE" Do I hate that! I needed some shoes but could not go buy them last Friday because it was "black Friday" and that was the biggest "sale" day of the year... translation: maddening crowd everywhere. That Friday became Saturday and Sunday... That was not enough so they invented "Cyber Monday." That is the day retailers expect big traffic on the web that naturally spills over to the shopping malls. Of course, Monday is extended into Tuesday... I couldn't wait any longer because my shoes look like the ones worn by Charlie Chaplin so I endured the crowd today.. and I blame it on this red balloon. I am happy because I got a brand new pair of shoes that will last me until the "Black Friday" of 2021. Yeah! All rite!

Take a look at the metro rail cars in this shot. You really think the doors have three panels like that? Not my fault that the train was moving so fast!

The Brown People

2011-11-28T23:16:00.000-05:00

There are many "The UPS Store" like this in Miami. Before this spreads widely, I needed to drive all the way to the Miami airport area to ship a package using UPS (That stands for United Parcel Service.) This is very convenient, not only to ship packages... because they offer many different kinds of service too, such as: Mailbox Services, Digital Printing and Document Services, Moving Supplies and Packaging Material, Packing Services etc...

This started out as a retail chain of business service centers known as Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE.) In 2001, MBE was acquired by UPS and it became "The UPS Store." These centers are franchises and individually owned. A bit pricy, but very convenient. Looking at their clocks, you can easily tell the time I was there.

Growth

2011-11-27T20:23:00.000-05:00

Immediately after moving into the space vacated by the now defunct Borders Book Shop, City Furniture wasted no time to execute its expansion plan. It thinks this economy is ideal for new growth. I guess no matter how tough your life is, and how broke you are, you do need a bed to sleep in... so they hope you'd go to City Furniture.

On the left is the new smaller City Furniture store that is now in full operation. The building on the right is the old furniture main store in South Miami. It is being renovated to add a new story and a new face lift. The brand new orange car blocking my !@#$%^ view is a Porsche Carrera S! This only confirms what I told you repeatedly: tons of cash are in display everywhere in Miami streets in form of expensive wheels.

Go Canes!

2011-11-26T22:42:00.000-05:00

Being a fair weather supporter of the University of Miami's "no longer great" football team who just lost the last game of the season last night, I immediately switched allegiance to the woman's volleyball team... because WE are ranked, and WE are number 25th! Go Canes!

Tonight I am among the record crowd of 1,071 fans who packed the James L. Knight Sports Complex for the regular season finale against Florida State University (FSU,) the hated "Noles" who outranked us at number 21st. Tonight's was the first-ever meeting between two ranked teams in volleyball, and the first time FSU and UM have ever faced each other as ranked opponents. So needless to say, we had a lot of excitement. You can always tell who's who by the shirts we wear. We are green and they are red.

The great news is that we upset FSU 3-1. Canes won the match in four sets by the score of 25-16, 33-31, 21-25 and 25-22.

Go Canes!

Black Friday vs Blue Crab

2011-11-25T22:05:00.000-05:00

Today is called "Black Friday" and I stay away from civilization (meaning all the crazy shopping malls) as far as possible... To do that, I went into a remote park when I faced this land crab, aka a Cardisoma-guanhumi. To refresh your memory, this fellow (that's a he) is omnivorous. He can see and hear well... He hears by detecting the ground vibrations, and he "sees" with his ommatidia, that is his compound eyes, which react only to that part of the scene directly in front of it. So this land crab does see me... after he picked up my foot steps, and is ready to take position and put up a good fight. And I said to myself "Here's looking at you, kid!"

I guess you want to know where that famous uttering came from, right? Here is the entire context, from "Casablanca:"

Ilsa: "I can't fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can't do it again. Oh, I don't know what's right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us."
And now comes the famous sentence...
Rick: "All right, I will. Here's looking at you, kid!"

Ilsa: [smiles] "I wish I didn't love you so much."

You guessed it: that's about a love story. Do you like Casablanca? I bet you do if you knew about that classic movie. Remember, it's not: "He's looking at you, kid!" but it's "Here's looking at you, kid!"

Triplaris sp.

2011-11-24T23:49:00.011-05:00

Sometimes, a second look reveals beauty that we missed when we did not pay close attention the first time around. A return visit to the ant tree proved to me that one needs time in order to discover and savor life's hidden treasures. Here is a closer look at the clusters seen from afar the last time. At this scale, I now need to know if these striking pink ladies are indeed still flowers... or are they now precursors on the way to become the T. sp. fruits? I sent out an inquiry to some experts in Panama and will let you know when I learn from them. Stay tuned!

Be Thankful

2011-11-23T23:51:00.000-05:00

If you live in the US, you should be thankful that you are not a turkey. What I mean is that literally, you do not want to be a real turkey... the bird... and not a turkey meaning a jerk or some other equally derogatory words. Today is the eve of Thanksgiving, an important holiday in the US. Tradition here calls for an entire nation to give thanks by feasting on turkeys. This year, about 40 million were slaughtered for tomorrow dinners... two of them were pardoned by US President Obama today, which is a tradition started in 1989. I know how the turkeys are farm raised and how they are killed every year for Thanksgiving. Let's not talk about that.

This shot is of a large Publix grocery store and it is packed with last minute shoppers getting ready for the giant feast tomorrow. It is dusk in about 15 minutes... and the fast setting sun shines upon the two Marriott hotels in the center of this photo. The Village of Dadeland sure looks handsome in this view.

Deep Purple

2011-11-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

I was ready to mumble something incomprehensible in this space today when I changed my mind due to this sight. Due East in Miami at dusk (5:58PM) today is this breathtaking deep purple sky with a single bright spot of light. There is nothing else in the sky besides the pretty pink clouds closer to the horizon. The sun has already set at 5:30PM in the opposite western direction, so light worked in mysterious ways by scattering to color these clouds. The bright spot of light is our giant gas planet Jupiter, the King planet reigning in our solar system. During the entire month of November, at the latitude of Miami, Jupiter rises at dusk and sets by dawn. It is spectacular to see during the entire night the slow movement of Jupiter and of the Orion constellation, the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky. Miami is not only spectacular during the days, it is beautiful at nights as well. Come visit, November is the month to be in Miami.

Expansion

2011-11-21T22:34:00.000-05:00

Amid the uncertainty of the tough economy and Washington bickering on how to reduce the deficit, the largest college in Miami Dade County, Miami Dade College is expanding its Kendall campus because more space is needed. Since 1997, its student population has grown 35 per cent and this campus has more than 34,000 registered students. The new 136,000-square-foot building will be the new home of the School of Business Administration. The US $31.8 million structure is planned to open in the year 2013, assuming it will be completed on schedule in October 2012.

Still Alone

2011-11-20T16:03:00.000-05:00

Her home is still the streets of Miami. Then, she was there. Now she is back at her home bench, here. Still all alone! How sad!

Guanabana

2011-11-19T23:55:00.004-05:00

This is my soursop or guanabana, scientifically known as Annona muricata, in fruiting season, which is this month. It is the most tropical of all the annonas and is native to Tropical America. This is supposed to be the best testing annona fruit of them all. It is extremely cold sensitive and cannot tolerate long periods of temperature less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I have lost at least three of these trees because once in a long while, it does dip into the low 40's in Miami and the guanabana would die. This time, it has a few flowers and I am not sure that any fruits would come from them. The reason being that this tree is not receiving enough sun light because of the neighboring big trees that give too much shade. That's too bad because this is the most delicious annona with the best flavor. The fruits are beautiful and quite large. If there is such thing as a miracle and a fruit or two form and mature on this tree, I will show you what they look like, but please do not hold your breath.

Shinju

2011-11-18T23:17:00.000-05:00

It rained all day today but that did not damp the spirit of the big crowd getting a good lunch here at the Shinju Japanese "All You Can Eat" place on Sunset Drive and SW 87th Avenue. The name is a bit misleading because this has more Chinese than Japanese dishes. On this side though, it's all sushi which still is not really what I would kill for. But today, I tried something that looks like sea weeds and tastes like ginger. That wasn't too bad at all. This place is very casual and you can get a full day meal here for about US $15. That's quite reasonable in this economy. The problem with me is that I always have a deep remorse after lunch here because I always overdo it! Me bad bad boy again today!

Power Lift

2011-11-17T23:47:00.005-05:00

When your car is put in this compromising position, you may be in serious risk of having a hefty bill to pay. This is a Benz C 230. Fortunately, it's not mine. Notice that this is NOT a Mercedes Benz service center, usually at the same place as the high price car dealership, but this is an "off brand" auto mechanic repair shop. In South Miami, there are many such shops where entrepreneurial mechanics set up shop and use their skill to earn good income. They usually charge less than an "authentic and certified" official repair shop, that charges the car owners without any mercy, especially if they drive an "ivy league" car. But... alas, I am also in deep yogurt because the other car, at the other end, the one you cannot see from this view, is also on the chopping block!

Sinful

2011-11-16T21:55:00.000-05:00

I was in line at this Publix grocery store in South Miami and this caught my eyes. These cakes look mighty appetizing but they are not for me: too sweet. I am not sure if these are related to the devil's food cake, but they all look sinfully inviting. Would you eat one of these?
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Ant Tree

2011-11-15T22:06:00.001-05:00

I am lucky to stumble on this tree in bloom because it is rare. This is a Triplaris sp., meaning its species name in indeterminate. Looking at the flower, this may be a T. cumingiana. Triplaria trees, aka the Long John tree; or the Mulato tree; or the ant tree; or Vara de Maria... belong to the family of Polygonaceae. It is nicknamed Long John because of its very slender shape. The branches are hollowed out and inhabited by the Pseudomyrmex sp. ants in a close symbiotic relationship. In fact, these ants are fiercely territorial and have been reported to attack people who come close to the trees. In some regions of Brazil, there are numerous reports of intensely painful stings by these ants that result in local inflammation.

The red flowers you see in the photo are female flowers in big compound clusters. The male flowers are small and white. After proper pollination, the seeds are hairy with three-blade helicopter-like wings that can be carried by wind miles away.

Absurdism

2011-11-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

I have shown you some activities in this South Miami college campus. That was really not the norm... but rather the exception. Students here are serious and they study hard. Here's proof. This scene is typical of the seriousness of the students in the computer lab to learn new things. If you can zoom in on the screen of the young student in the middle, you would see that he was reading about the work of none other than Albert Camus! I was impressed and followed his surfing for a little while... that brought him to deep philosophical subjects such as "what is absurdism..." and "the myth of Sisyphus." Now, that's deep!

Fibonacci Spirals

2011-11-13T22:31:00.002-05:00

Pineapple is a symbol of hospitality, for some and not for all, I am sure.... I am in a bad mood today because someone is mad at me... so I am taking it out on my pineapple... I am going to peel it!

This is my third pineapple... because I was always intrigued to know if I am capable of peeling a pineapple the "right" way, that is not to waste any good edible flesh. The end result is that you end up with a beautiful spiral-decorated fruit to show.

My first pineapple made it to my blog, but it rotted away on my counter because I could not figure out how to peel it the "right" way and I couldn't tell that it was too ripe and it couldn't wait forever for my taking action. My second pineapple was peeled... alas, not the "right" way, and shamefully for me, not by me, but by a friend. We ate it, but I was unhappy! This is my third one, and I did my homework so this time I am ready... and today is the day.

First, do you know how to tell if a pineapple is ripe? See? Not so obvious! That's when you can easily pull off the spiny leaves off the top. So mine is ripe and ready to go... The leaves came off easily without any resistance. How do you like that! Instructions on how to peel a pineapple are everywhere you look, but many just cut it the "wrong" way. After some doing, I found a video showing an expert that did it so effortlessly the "right" way... in Thailand of all places. The woman "professor" did a great job demonstrating how to peel her pineapple that really inspired me to try for myself... So I bought a brand new 8-inch "never need sharpening" (I'd like to test that too) knife for this special task. Now, this is what you do: First you take away the top leaves. No, do not cut it off... just twist the entire bunch of leaves off. That worked perfectly well for me. But before proceeding, do you know that while the pineapple was ripening in your kitchen, all the sugar in it migrated by gravity to the bottom part? So the trick I learned is that after twisting off the leaves, you turn it upside down and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour for the sugar to migrate back evenly. Done! Not sure why that is so clever! If you want more sugar, just eat the bottom part and leave the top for your guest (or for the person who is mad at me today!)

So, after a lot of labor, this is my pineapple ready to be cored. Not too pretty, but that's mine! Now, how best to core this? Let's save it for the next blog. But there is a twist... some pineapple cores are soft and are edible and if you can tell, you do not need to core it.

If you are interested to learn how to do this from the master, a lesson is here. My pineapple is not as pretty as the one the master was working on in the video... but in all fairness, mine does not have a perfect spiral pattern as hers so I am happy with the way mine looks. Yummy! Let's eat it!

Ibis Feeding

2011-11-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

Just a flock of ibis feeding among tall palm trees in Miami.

Ladies of the Night

2011-11-11T19:09:00.000-05:00

More than three years ago, I started a small gem of an orchid hybrid, the Brassavola "Little Stars." Then it has been rush rush rush in life and I neglected to pay any attention to it. This plant blooms when it begins to turn cool in Miami and it gets dark early. At 7PM tonight, it already is pitch-black outdoors, but I did not need much light to find these Little Stars from its scent that is so delightful. This makes one forgets all the troubles of the world. All mine vanished instantly. Thank you, Little Stars, Ladies of the Night. Trouble? What trouble?

Dream On

2011-11-10T22:47:00.000-05:00

Students come to this campus to study and complete homework and do research for projects etc... Many do... and many don't. A favorite past time is to surf the internet for whatever their interests for the moment. Girls like to browse for cosmetics, clothing and I think high heel shoes. Boys, like these two youngsters' "numero uno" interest is hot cars. They share their dreams on cars of all make, but mostly hot cars like Mustangs and Hondas that may be just beyond their reach because the norm at colleges like this is that the parents are not rich by any means. So, I guess there is an incentive in this activity: study hard to get a good job.

Guy Cones

2011-11-09T20:49:00.000-05:00

After having shown you the female Encephalartos ferox, I thought it unfulfilled until I find its match, and here it is. E. ferox is also known as the Zululand Cycad and you may want to know that Cycads are often referred to as "living fossils" because they have changed little since the Carboniferous period 50-60 million years ago. They belong to the group of plants called Gymnosperms (meaning "naked seeds".) The reproductive organs are produced in cones and not in flowers as in higher plants. The Afrikaans name for Cycads "broodboom" means "bread tree" and the stems of these plants have been used in the past as a source of food. The starchy pith is removed, tied up in an animal skin, fermented and then ground into a meal.

Compared to the female cones, the male cones are longer (40-50cm) and much narrower (only 8-10cm in diameter). They are held on short stems up to 3cm long. Pollination of these Cycads can be done by hand: The pollen is collected from the male cones then mixed with distilled water and sprayed into the female cones.

I really have lived the ferox part of these Cycads and was pricked numerous times when trying to get a closer shot of these cones today. Just look at the leaves, they protect the cones like a fortress!

Panamera

2011-11-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

I am telling you, there is so much money in the streets of Miami that's unreal. I've been to many cities in the US and found none like here that has so many expensive cars running around town day and night. Here is a brand new looking Porsche Panamera (Type number 970) whose name was derived from the Carrera Panamericana race.

The Porsche Panamera production model was unveiled at the 13th Auto Shanghai International Automobile Show in Shanghai, China, on April 2009; and later, the hybrid version was launched in 2011. This car is manufactured to compete directly with cars like the Aston Martin Rapide, the Maserati Quattroporte, the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, and the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo, all of which run in the streets of Miami. Looking at this, I say that it is too long, too big and kind of ugly too. This car upsets many Porsche purists who agree with my assessment. You should know that I am no Porsche purist... but if you do drive a Porsche, not this one though, I may love you.

This one here is the cheapest in the line of Panamera, at a meager US $75K. Adding the label Turbo S and the price jumps to $175K and of course you can see that in Miami too. Only in Miami!

Harp Lady

2011-11-07T17:32:00.000-05:00

I was at Macy's today... not that I wanted to, but because I had to. This large department store is a major anchor at Dadeland Mall. They have this young lady playing her harp that really gave a very festive mood to the entire space around here. It's almost Thanksgiving and not quite Christmas which are the two major holidays in the US and the decoration will begin to blossom everywhere very soon. This electric harp does not sound very nice, but she plays it well and I did like her rendering of "Fascination." I wonder if she'll play some rap music. That would be fun to hear that on a harp.

Audi

2011-11-06T23:03:00.005-05:00

This is how Audi showcased its sport cars at the Biltmore hotel in Coral Gables. Come with a lot of green backs in your wallet or all of your credit cards in case you fall in love with one of these.

Roots

2011-11-05T23:40:00.002-04:00

Ficus and banyan trees are beautiful... but before planting them, one must be aware of the aggressiveness of their root structures. They are very invasive and destructive. Near a home, they will eventually invade the foundation and may even find ways to your toilet! In Miami, many concrete sidewalks are cracked and destroyed because they happen to be near a ficus tree. However, the roots are lovely to look at. Stare at this a while and you'll fall in love and you'd want to hug the trees.

In Salman Rushdie's novel, The Satanic Verses, the village of Titlipur is built around an enormous banyan tree, whose roots cover an area "half a mile in diameter." The tree is intrinsic to the village with some villagers building shelters in it and others living in the foliage. Did you also know that Robinson Crusoe, in 1719, built his house in a banyan tree? Well, that's according to the novel, and if I were him, I would be very happy to find a big banyan tree and build a big house in which to live.

Free Jazz Concert

2011-11-04T17:32:00.000-04:00

Back by popular demand, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Kendall Campus once again presents its popular Jazz Under the Stars concert, one of many of the campus’ annual Fall Festival. The concert, free with a ticket, features some of the very celebrated names in jazz and Latin music at 7 PM today, at the campus’ Fred Shaw Plaza.

Featured are Jon Secada, a former band member of Gloria Estefan's band, Miami native saxophonist Jesse Jones Jr.; and professors of music at MDC such as Ed Calle, Matt Bonelli and Silvano Monasterios.

The stage is being readied as can be seen here. The people who organize this event must be very good weather forecaster, or must feel very lucky. If it rains, that would be a disaster... but... it won't tonight, knock on wood!

Helicopter Drop

2011-11-03T19:14:00.019-04:00

Today, if you were at the Biltmore hotel in Coral Gables, you would have witnessed this event: a helicopter hovering above the huge and beautifully manicured golf court to drop a whole bunch of golf balls aiming at a hole marked by a red flag.

This is an annual event by the local Rotary Club of Coral Gables to raise money for their preferred charity projects. Tickets are sold and linked to numbered golf balls. The three golf balls that land the closest to the hole with the flag win the three prizes.

I was there to watch and am smart enough to stay far away, making sure those solid hard like rock balls have no chance to land on my head.

No Flippping

2011-11-02T22:03:00.002-04:00

This is is a peek at the local Burger King kitchen where the food magically appears promptly after a customer orders it. I think this is a real high pressure job because the managers' only loyalty is to the bottom line and they are all instructed to have the assembly line moves at top speed. To make a burger here must be tough. The worker looks at a monitor up high to see the code of how to make up the order, then get the correct ingredients on the buns and wrap it up to move it to the counter for delivery. OK.. buns... lettuce... onion... mayo... mushroom... patty (precooked by gas flame under computer control and delivered frozen so there is no need to "flip the hamburger" any more)... next one... next one... Can you do this all day? Someone must!

Virginia Key

2011-11-01T23:46:00.000-04:00

Virginia Key is a 863-acre Miami barrier island, in Biscayne Bay, south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne, accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway. On this island, you find Virginia Key Beach Park, Miami Seaquarium, and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the former Miami Marine Stadium, the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center; and an office of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This island has a long history and it acquired its name in 1849. Today's Historic Virginia Key Beach Park was designated as the "Virginia Key Beach, a Dade County Park for the exclusive use of Negroes" in August 1945. That ended in the early 1960s and by the 1980s, Virginia Key beach was the scene for gay couples and nudists. It's too bad that is now long gone. If it were still here, I would understand the US $6 charge the county collects for each car to get in. Now, for that outrageous entry fee, the only nice thing you can visit is Jimbo's place.

The fence you see marks the entrance to Jimbo's , a long time landmark of Virginia Key situated on the right side of this photo.

Fantasma

2011-10-31T15:28:00.001-04:00

It's here! The fateful night they call Halloween. You see ghosts everywhere you go in Miami. I am staying put inside. Not taking any chance to run into these fellows. If you live in the US and you do celebrate, Happy Halloween! If not, happy day, where ever you may be. If you want to be scared tonight, watch this, and this.

Pink Boy

2011-10-30T23:42:00.005-04:00

I returned to visit the Victoria amazonica and happy to see that the flower is now fully opened. It is of the pinkish color so the hocus pocus might have happened last night when it opened for the first time and supposedly white. I am pleasantly surprised to see it open during day time, which is 2:11pm when this photo was taken. Books say this flower only opens at night... unless this is not the amazonica species, the books may be wrong. This is interesting and I wish I could get to the truth behind this... some day and certainly not today.

Bubba

2011-10-29T17:15:00.001-04:00

Known as "A Genuine, Original Florida Establishment, Virginia Key, Miami, Florida USA," this is Jimbo's Place. It is said that his is "simply the last place at the end of the road where everyone is welcome, from kings and politicians to working folks and the salt of the earth."

I come here once in a while, and today's a special day which is Frankenstock Halloween Party at Jimbo's place. This place is boasted to be the most popular location in Miami where music video shoots, models and photographers, television shows and motion pictures are shot on location; such as Porky's II, Ace Ventura, True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious; Flipper, Miami Vice, CSI Miami, Burn Notice; JayLo, Who Let The Dogs Out, Sugar Ray and photo of Maria Carey's first album cover... You get to meet quite a few exotic characters who frequent this place. For instance, I got a nice photo of Jamaican Paul and he said he wouldn't charge me a fee for that. Lucky me! Look him up.

Jimbo himself was here and I got a couple of nice photos of him... but he is so well known already and I am sure he wouldn't mind that he didn't make it to my today's blog. But... less well known is Jimbo's Jr. and here he is... Bubba (James "Bubba" Luznar Jr.)! Bubba is Jimbo's son and, like everyone around here, also very friendly. He gave me a Halloween mask without me asking for it. Thanks, Bubba!

Don't Hug Me!

2011-10-28T18:10:00.001-04:00

If you do not like to be hugged, be like this.
This is a Pachypodium lamerei, which is a stem succulent and a species in the family of Apocynaceae from Southern Madagascar. It has large thorns with leaves growing only at the top of the plant and bears large, white fragrant flowers, which is rare for plants in the cactus family. This species is one of the best known pachypodiums in cultivation because it is relatively easy to propagate and grow. Propagation is by foot long pods the size of cucumbers that bust open when ripe to disperse its seeds to the surroundings.

Do you see a large colorful lizard on the top? How did it get there? It must have followed the spiral pathway between the thorns, right? How else?

RIP

2011-10-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday observed in the US, and many other countries in the world on October 31, which commonly includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films. The carving of jack-o'-lanterns originated from Ireland and Scotland from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory. Immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century. Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to idle "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. Unfortunately, there is real danger of poison-laded candies given out and that practice is all but abandoned. However, traditions die hard and many houses in the US put up Halloween decorations to celebrate. This house looks beautiful with the mockup cemetery in its front yard.

Every Halloween night, I plan to watch "The Shining" but too chicken to have it done. That movie is just too creepy for my sensitive soul. If there is a scene I would blog, that would be when Wendy sneaked up to read Jack's book. The entire novel he wrote only contains one repeated phrase. Do you know what that is? Do you think I will watch that this year?

Lonesome Bird

2011-10-26T22:55:00.001-04:00

I was walking alone this morning on Sunset Drive when I spotted this lonesome bird perched on a large aerial tree root at this canal. Without a good reference, I can't tell its gender but pretty sure it's a falcon, a species of raptor in the genus Falco with about 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. These birds are also sexually dimorphic.

In Miami, you can sometime see flock of birds of prey flying high looking for food. If this is one of those birds, it is a kestrel, which hovers while hunting. One species, the Peregrine falcon has been recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour (320 km/h), making it the fastest-moving creatures on Earth. Being birds of prey, falcons have exceptional powers of vision; the visual acuity of one such species has been measured at 2.6 times that of a normal human. This thought brings me back to the reason why I am walking this road... I am visiting my ophthalmologist to log a complaint of why I can't see as well as a falcon.

Interment

2011-10-25T23:28:00.001-04:00

There is a burial at the Woodland Park Cemetery South, also known as the Caballero Rivero this morning. This is a large 60 acres cemetery on SW 117th Avenue and 116 Street and it is a nice final resting place, for some. Others choose to be scattered with the wind and not leave any trace. That lead me to think about the different ways the finality of one's life can be dealt with, such as...

Air burial - Mongolia - body is left on open ground for natural predators.
Sky burial - Tibet - Body is dismembered and left outside to nature's course. This is because Buddhist's Jhator believes the body is worthless, only fit to be used to sustain birds of prey such as the vultures.
Viking burial - Scandinavia - Body is left inside dragon ship and burned with ship.
Fire burial - Bali - This is a Hindu way relying on fire for cremation.
Workplace burial - Southeast Asia - Bodies are buried in the fields where they lived and worked. Stone markers are used to mark the locations.
Cave burial - Hawaii - Bodies are bent and tied, covered with tapa cloth and buried in caves. This is similar to the Incas and Egyptians' mummies.
Ocean burial - Bodies are placed in burlap bags and weighed with stones to sink, a la 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne.

There are many more ways to dispose of the dead bodies and sometimes painful memories linger on. Any memorial can prolong the memories and with it the sadness so for me... I like the Final Frontier mode - Bodies launched into space aboard a private commercial satellite to a permanent orbit around the earth. That's still too close to earth, I'd prefer a higher escape velocity and my capsule will sling shot to escape the solar system into deep space, never to return... orbiting the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Please, would you please lighten up! Not you, you, that's me talking to myself.

Love Graffiti

2011-10-24T19:38:00.002-04:00

In Paris, there is a wall named "Le mur des je t'aime." The wall is a monument dedicated to love erected in the romantic garden of the Square Jehan Rictus Place des Abbesses in Paris Montmartre. With over 311 written declarations in 250 different languages, I love You : The Wall has become a meeting place for lovers. I saw it in Paris but can't blog it because this is not Paris... but... Love is here in Miami too. Here are some great declarations of love expressed in graffiti and posted in a very unique and beautiful place: the trunk of an Albizia niopoides, which is the largest and most elegant of about 150 species of the Albizia trees, which is related to the Rain Tree. This one is in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, and although pretty much forbidden, lovers have found the way and the courage to carve their love declarations on its trunk. If you can find your name here, you know that someone does love you deeply. Click on the photo to enlarge it. You can never tell what you can find.

In Full Bloom

2011-10-23T23:56:00.016-04:00

As predicted on August 20th this year, the Alstonia scholaris in lot 57a at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is in full bloom today. This is the absolute peak of this tree. It is fully covered head to toe of dense clusters of flowers and they are all fully opened, except very few isolated clumps that are late. During day time, there is a lingering scent but at midnight, this tree lives up to the description in literature that serenades the sweet and subtle nightly scent. Downwind of this near midnight, you can't get enough of this perfume. During the day, this tree attracts many small butterflies and bees that pollinate the flowers to produce seed pods in about a month.

The purple flowers you see in the foreground is from the Lonchocarpus violaceus tree (Balché Tree) of the Fabaceae family from West Indies and Columbia. This tree smells very good during the day but it is no match to the Milk flowers at night.

Topless

2011-10-22T20:22:00.000-04:00

If you are tricked to this page because of the title I used, shame on you. It's not what you think. We Miamians live for this crisp, cool, blue sky, white clouds, extremely pleasant weather about this time of the year. This is when the snow birds flock to Miami to partake our nice weather and flood South Beach. As if given a secret signal, all convertible cars go topless. Here are two among the many roaming the streets of Miami. I think that if you own a convertible in Miami and you drive around town with the top of you car still up in this kind of weather, you would be considered "gauche." And you know what this means? Your car has to be in tip top shape. You push a button, the top goes down... you push it again, the top goes up. I saw a man who didn't even have to push any button. He clapped his hands, instant topless!