Tonight Is Ladies’ Night
Or not.
Filed under: Comedy, Current Events, Gainesville on March 31st, 2010 | No Comments »
It’s Almost That Time
On my bike ride home tonight I saw the first azaleas of the season: three or four magenta blossoms along Seventh Avenue.
Filed under: Gainesville on February 6th, 2010 | No Comments »
Frigorifick
First of all, Happy New Year.
I have lived in Gainesville for more than a decade, and in that time I have grown accustomed to temperatures I did not ever experience when living in St. Petersburg. Granted, Gainesville is less than two hundred miles north of St. Pete, but, still, that makes a substantial difference. Winter nights in Gainesville regularly dip into the thirties, and once a year, perhaps, we have a day that doesn’t reach fifty degrees. But, no matter what, after a day or two the temperatures always creep back up, and afternoon highs once again hover around seventy degrees.
In my entire life in Florida I have never experienced a cold spell like this. It isn’t merely the extreme cold, although it is definitely that: we have had days recently that barely climbed above forty degrees. Rather, what is so distressing to everyone is the seemingly endless nature of this cold. For about two weeks now it has been freezing cold. At home, our heater is running nearly non-stop to keep the house at a comfortable temperature. I dread turning on the faucet because the water is so frigid it almost feels worse than scalding. Meanwhile, going outside for anything–even just to run to the car–is a miserable and dreaded chore. I haven’t dared to ride my bike in almost a week. School started last Tuesday, and everyone you see on campus is wearing a hooded sweatshirt with his hands tucked into his pockets.
Fortunately, Miriam bought me a windbreaker for Christmas, which has absolutely paid for itself and more over the last two weeks. Coupled with a pair of gloves my mother sent me, I have managed to protect my skin from frostbite (possibly an exaggeration).
The forecast for tonight is eighteen degrees, and there is no word yet when the cold will end. Some say Friday, but I feel it may never be warm again.
Filed under: Gainesville, Meteorology on January 10th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Fourth of July, Alachua
The Fourth of July is probably the best holiday of the year. It isn’t religious, but most people still get the day off (yesterday for me, since the holiday falls on a Saturday this year). The holiday commemorates something truly special–the ratification of the Declaration of Independence–and every American can enjoy it. (I love Thanksgiving almost as much, but that holiday can be especially hard on the poor and friendless.)
Plus, Independence Day is celebrated with fireworks.
Fireworks are awesome, and all year I look forward to seeing them. In Gainesville, a large fireworks display has generally been held on July 3 at Flavet Field on the University of Florida campus. I don’t know what the rationale was for scheduling the event the day before the actual national holiday. My theory has always been that it would allow Gainesvillians to enjoy two days of fireworks if they chose to drive to Jacksonville, St. Augustine or Ocala. WUFT, where I work, has been the host and sponsor of the Fanfares and Fireworks display for decades. Last year, however, budget cuts nearly caused the event to be canceled. An anonymous donor ponied up $30,000, though, and everyone rejoiced. We went with a bunch of friends and set up a blanket, listened to the Gainesville Community Band, and had a great time. This year, however, no savior stepped forward, and so, for the first time since I’ve lived here, there were no fireworks in Gainesville on July 3. (That’s not completely true: there were no firesworks in 1998, but that was because there was a county-wide burn ban, due to extensive wildfires.) Everyone was disappointed.
Last year, on Independence Day, we all spent the evening eating dinner, lighting firecrackers in the street, and playing Grand Theft Auto. Today, we went to a pool party at Demonomia‘s apartment, and later we’ll drive up to “downtown beautiful Alachua”, where there will be a fireworks display. Dick Cavett has a fine nostalgic tribute to fireworks in the New York Times today. Read it, and have a happy Independence Day.
God bless America.
Filed under: Gainesville, Special Occasions on July 4th, 2009 | No Comments »
A Newspaper that Deserves to Fold
I follow a number of photographers’ streams on Flickr, the website where I keep tens of thousands of my own photographs. I have met none of these photographers in person, though one, whose Flickr name is Gato Ranch, lives in north central Florida. She has many pictures of nature and bands.
On her stream today, Gato Ranch, whose real name is Jana, posted something that I found disturbing. The Gainesville Sun has taken one of her photographs, and, without her permission, posted it on their webpage in conjunction with a story. Worse still, in spite of the fact that the stolen picture had her real name and a copyright symbol, the Sun gave her no credit, and posted a link for readers to buy the image. From them! It is the most blatant copyright violation I’ve ever seen.
Jana tells me that she notified the Gainesville Sun of their violation, but this isn’t the first time they have done this to her, so one must assume that this is par for the course with them. She doesn’t believe that they copied the picture from Flickr, but from MySpace, which explains the low resolution.
I’ve never thought much of the Gainesville Sun. In fact, I have a hate-hate relationship with that paper. They publish unsolicited Craigslist-style rants in their letters section, which I feel violates all standards of journalism; they have been adversarial in their coverage of WUFT-FM, where I work; they have misquoted me in articles, and acted offended when I alerted them to that fact. They are simply a bad newspaper. Now I see they are also criminals.
Shame on you, Gainesville Sun.
So, I have a polite request for anyone who reads the Sun online: if you ever see any photographs you recognize as mine, please let me know. If it can happen to Jana, it can happen to me.
Filed under: Gainesville, Photography, Rantings on June 17th, 2009 | 2 Comments »