Day O

Banana plants are of the family Musaceae. They are cultivated primarily for their fruit and are found in more than a hundred countries in the world. Their leaves are used as very popular wrappers for many oriental dishes. It is perfectly natural for banana leaves to be shredded by the wind, and when you see banana plants in their normal habitat they will almost always have severely torn leaves, just like this photo shows. There is actually an old saying in South East Asia that claims that anyone lucky enough to see a perfect, non-shredded banana leaf will have a wish fulfilled. Well, today is NOT my lucky day!

Shredded banana leaves are not a problem for the plant – as long as the leaf is green it will continue to carry out photosynthesis and provide the plant with energy. This plant does not have one leaf not being thoroughly shredded. Can you see the handsome bunch of bananas in this photo?

I Dare You

Last Saturday's blog did not do justice to what I call "Java the Hut," so here he is in full disclosure. He is not a happy camper from the look on his face. Suppose you sit down, plunk down US $.50 (that's 50 cents, or two quarters) to have a friendly arm wrestle match with him, and he does not let go of your hand, what will you do?

Just Vanda

Vanda orchid in bloom under a yellow royal poinciana tree. This vanda hybrid that has beautifully shaped, waxy with almost uniform color flowers is so strong and full of life it blooms four times a year. The blooms are long lasting so this plant is almost in bloom year round under the bright sky of Miami.

Uummpphh...

Would you spend US $.50 to arm wrestle with this mean and formidable looking hulk? Not me! He looks like Java the Hut! But this young man is fearless, trying his best and not willing to give up. His score shows 414. Not bad! The highest score recorded on this machine was by Hugh. Hugh topped the max score at 999!

Oh No!

When you drive around the streets of a large US city, like here in Miami, and you see a bright flashing light in your rear view mirror, that's BAD! This white car is getting a traffic ticket. There is no two ways around it!

Serious Surfing

The students at this computer lab are totally absorbed at what they are doing. True, most study, and I saw some just surfing or browsing YouTube. But take heart, even if the lure of things like YouTube, FaceBook or eBay is too strong, the students do learn just by spending the time at the computer terminals.

Pinus palustris

The Longleaf Pine (long needle pine) is a pine native to the southeast United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and all the way to South Florida. It reaches a height of 30-35 m (100-115 ft) and a diameter of 0.7 m (28"). Longleaf Pine takes 100 to 150 years to become full size and can live to 500 years old.

The bark is thick, reddish-brown, and scaly. The leaves are dark green, needle-like, and occur in bundles of three. They are often twisted and are remarkably long 20-45 cm (8-18") in length. It is one of the two southeastern U.S. pines with long needles, the other being Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii.)

The scientific name meaning "of marshes" is a misunderstanding when originally the species was described based on the view of Longleaf Pine forests with temporary winter flooding.

Museo de la Libertad

This is a college architectural project dedicated to Havana, Cuba. Miami has a large population of citizens who came from Cuba in search for a better life. The largest wave of Cuban immigrants came during the summer of the year of 1994.

Wilkommen Bienvenu Welcome!

That's what I hear when looking at these wonderfully beautiful little pink flowers. No wonder they get pollinated easily. All the bees, ants, butterflies that pass by will certainly oblige... These flowers are very small, about 1 cm in diameter. There are just too many species of flora in Miami, and I frankly do not know what this is. May be I'll find out someday.

Caddines

I was on the roof top parking of the Target shopping complex in South Dade today, expecting to be alone in an empty parking floor to shoot some pictures. Big surprise! The entire roof top was packed as a can of sardines with brand new SUVs. They are mostly Cadillac Escalade, the luxury hybrid 6.2Liter V8 developing 403 hp with price starting at US $57K. The entire huge parking surface is packed with these cars. Can you imagine how much money that is left to cook under the hot Miami sun here? I am sure they will have a very hard time to sell all these cars with this economy that is requiring about 1 TRILLION US $ just to stay alive. That's US $ 1,000,000,000,000.

Artist's Canvas

Treasure Troves for hungry but talented artists at Jimbo's place in Virginia Key. This is the same bus that you see in the final sequence of the film "2 Fast 2 Furious" because that sequence was filmed right here.

American Solstice

This American roadster Pontiac Solstice is a response to the assault from European and Japanese sport car imports. This car typically delivers 177-hp from a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. I don't think that is adequate to back up its sexy sports-car looks, much less to compete with more muscular imports that crowd the streets of Miami. Obviously, it is good enough for a college student's transportation.

Palmetto

This is the Palmetto Expressway (SR-826) Southbound about to end and merge with US-1. The last exit to the right is Kendall Drive where Dadeland Mall sits and the new Village of Dadeland is sprouting up.

Roots & Roots

Under the vine pergola. As tropical as subtropical can get.

Surf & Turf

It is evident, Surf (Sea food) is on the left side; and Turf (Meat) is on the right side. This is inside a Publix supermarket where I come to empty my wallet regularly. As I said before, you've got to eat. However, I rarely venture to this Surf & Turf corner. Are you kidding? At the price they are charging?

Please Pay More

As recently as about three years ago, the only high rise in this view is the Publix grocery store. This is what this place looks like today. On the left is the Town CenterOne building rapidly taking shape. An immediate consequence is office rent in this area is doubling for every leasee. So, pay up or move out!

Real Fast Food

No matter how bad the economy gets, no matter how tough your financial situation is, you've got to eat. This man can certainly help because he is here every week day flipping hamburgers, frying the French fries or cook whatever the menu says you can order. It's not gourmet food, but you'll live.

Psidium Guajava

Look at this fruit. It's a guava. This must be mid September! This tree is extremely reliable: if I protect the fruits against the fruit flies, this is the time for harvest. This one is 4.5 inches in diameter. The US money coin to show relative size is a quarter dollar coin.

Green Snake

The 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 is different from most performance cars. This car can kill you. The Viper is a machine to be treated like a loaded gun. It's a serious, serious piece of equipment because the reworked 8.4 liter V10 under the Viper's considerable hood has been updated and upgraded to create this 600-horsepower monster capable of top speed over 200 mph (that's about 320 km/hour!) The price of this car starts at US $84K, but by the time you get all the options typically tempting you at American car dealerships, I bet you'll be out about $100K or more. Well, I call this a poor man's Ferrari. It's right next to me today at a traffic light.

Cheeseburgers... Cheeseburgers

A taste of Hawaii in the heart of South Miami. This is the Cheeseburger in Paradise fast food restaurant inside Sunset Place. The theme is definitely Aloha as can easily be seen in the surf board decorations.