WTS!

Take an old Thrift Store hard back book for a couple of $ and transform it into a whole new book. It’s simple and most importantly fun and rewarding. Come and see how it’s done so you can have a go yourself.

Call it street-scrap-booking, it utilises existing materials and bits and pieces you collect on a day to day basis. Best bit… no Martha Stewart in sight.

The Thrift Store Sketchbook Event is a perfect opportunity for you to also gain a sneak look into the creative minds and worlds of the Concept Design and Conceptual Thinking students and their thinking process.

See you Thursday 20th January 2011, The Cafe Gallery at MIU Art Institute 15th & Biscayne Blvd, 5.30pm-7.30pm. A wee beverage and a few nibbles will be served.

Please RSVP to thesketchbookproject@gmail.com ASAP or via the Facebook page.

Having undertaken an intense, 10week course in Product Creation at Miami Ad School the students uncovered key insights and challenges the following areas and their communities are faced with; Miami Beach (no parking and dog waste issues), Brickell (harnessing wind issues, lack of recycling and outdoor meeting spaces), Wynwood (divided communities) and Midtown (empty retail spaces).

The students then developed interesting product design solutions to answer these challenges, which they presented on Friday to; Miami City Commissioner and Chamber of Commerce President, Jerry Libbin , Diana Fontani Martinez (Office of the Mayor and Commission Chief Aide to the Commissioner Gongora), Executive Director of Environmental Coalition of Miami and the Beaches (ECOMB) Luiz Rodrigues (AKA ‘Mr. Green’) and community-consultant-creative-mind-and-loyal-Miami-resident Dale Penn;

“I really appreciate the hard work and creative energy that went into each of these projects.  I hope the Miami Ad School will make this a part of its ongoing program, as raising awareness of societal issues and possible creative solutions provides tremendous potential for improving the quality of life in our community – and provides students with the opportunity to gain insight into ways they can use their lives to impact our world.”

Each were impressed with the presentation and happy to be seeing a group of students getting involved with the world that exists on their doorstep.

Jerry Libbin left the meeting inspired saying; “I thought it was very stimulating… they were brilliant, well-thought out ideas. Some of them could definitely be use-able in the city of Miami”. Libbin went on to say; “We’ve had a number of interns from Miami Ad School who have been outstanding and infact hired two to become full time at the Chamber. The school does a fantastic job with training them and we look forward to hiring more.”

In a city that often gets labeled as ‘a party-goers paradise’ and runs on ‘Latin time’ I really hope that we begin to see the student population reach out to the local scene and apply the skills they are learning in their classrooms or lecture halls. Miami has a huge number of opportunities to shape and nurture their culture and the Public Space Innovation Project was able to nurture a sense of pride and accomplishment amongst the students.

After their presentations some of the students commented on how they were surprised to learn that applying the creative process this way could assist them in the arrival at a product design solution and not simply another ad campaign. Jasper Dai, a budding Art Director at the school and integral member of the Public Space Innovation Collective said; “I thoroughly enjoyed seeing and learning a different spin on the creative process.”

Here’s to hoping that Miami in 2011 nurtures this optimism and embraces the sustainability challenges faced by the world. It falls on the shoulders of any entrepreneurial spirit in Miami to conjure up support and rally these creative ideas and see some of these solutions brought to life. Those who step up to the plate will be contributing to an exciting future, a changing face and a new emerging cultural landscape in Miami.

Nice job class of 2010.

There is a must-attend-event happening this Friday. It would mean the world if you could also twitter, facebook and email the details on to all your contacts. Would love to see you there…

The concept design and conceptual thinking students at Miami International University of Art & Design are sharing their inspiration and showcasing sketchbooks that have an interesting twist to them – they started out life as a second-hand book bought from a thrift store.

Art Basel whisked Miami on a whirlwind, romantic adventure, a long weekend and jam-packed program of art and culture which has since come to an end. The city is now returned to locals and Art Basel leaves the streets littered with a bit of street-art here and the odd empty pop-up shop there.

However, bubbling away under the surface of this quieter city is a pocket of creative energy that can still be found, a select group of creative students shaping their future are on a journey of exploration and discovery – The Thrift Store Sketchbook Project 2010.

Miami International University of Art & Design invite members of the creative communications community to come and see The Thrift Store Sketchbook Project 2010 on Friday December 10th, 5.30pm-7.30pm at the Café Gallery, Ai campus, 15th & Biscayne Blvd, Downtown Miami.

We hope to inspire creative artists and creative communication practitioners to see the benefits of documenting evidence of the creative process. It gives clients a different perspective and key insight into the world of creative thinking, which is highly valuable to both client and supplier.

There will be complimentary refreshments and you will be able to see pages of the books accompanied by quotes from each student explaining what this creative journey has meant to them.

Please RSVP thesketchbookproject@gmail.com

This past couple of months we have both been really, very lucky. Sept/October has been full of incredible travel and adventure. Mark and I found ourselves going off in different directions as I flew to Central America to experience volcanoes and dodge land slides in Guatemala and Mark flew across to the mid-west to experience desert and mountain biking five and a half thousand feet above sea level in Utah.

In between – I hopped on a couple of flights up for a weekend trip to Quebec with a wedding party from Miami and Mark had only recently discovered he needed to hop on a rather long distance flight to China to be there for the Hong Kong and Canton Trade Fairs for work.

Only now have our feet really touched the ground. The hundreds of photos have been or are in the process of being uploaded and I’m going to try and compile a short description of the experiences to accompany some of the pics so as not to bore or have you snoozzzzzzzzzzzing off to sleep. ;0)

Here goes… (grab a cuppa, this may take you a few sips)

Guatemala (late Sept)

Day 1 & Day 2 – Guatemala City, Day 3 – Monterrico (El Puerto), Day 4 – Guatemala City, Day 5 – Central Plaza, Cathedral & Government Buildings, Day 6 – Green Rush (the hills/mountains and jungle of Guatemala City soon to be the best outdoor activities center ever!), Day 7 & Day 8 – La Antigua

Birthday parties often have certain mandatory elements in Guate (the local shortened term for Guatemala) – a family (including super excited children – check), a delicious cake (oozing with yummy icing – check), a whole heap of food (most often including black beans ;0) – check), a pinata (most definitely present if it is a child’s birthday – check), balloons (that keep all occupied for hours on end – check), fireworks (or rather the loud and many bangs of fireworks – check) and rather like bookends our trip started and ended with birthday celebrations, it just happened to be a week of celebrations and catching up with Marian’s family and friends. I think we can safely say we drunk Guatemala City and La Antigua dry of tequila!

I thought I would attempt the challenge and take you through the crazy, full on, extreme trip that took me on a rather bizarre, contradictory tour between severe poverty and great wealth. Here’s a few of the hundreds of pics that try to capture this whirlwind adventure (yes, it did rain most of the time and therefore I didn’t actually ever see the top of a volcano – “what a shame! They are beautiful!”… or so I’ve been told?!)

Lesson #1: Religion. Cathedrals are still used and all ages attend the services that appear to happen on a frequent basis. This was my first realization that I’d stepped back in time. Mothers carrying babies, old and young men and women, teenagers, families and friends were queuing up for confession while services took place and the pews were occupied by people all focused on the speaker.

Lesson #2: Transport. All buses are decorated in bright colours and each one is completely different. The buses pump out all sorts of dark smoke – they seem to have no emission rules and regulations so I wouldn’t be surprised if their engines were running on anything they can get their hands on. They are packed to the brim with commuters using the transport to take them to and from their homes to work in and out of the city.

Lesson #3: Fashion. The fashion, or rather clothing and accessories of Guatemala is so varied. Those in poverty are wearing all they can cobble together from the good will stores and second-hand shops. I was shocked at how many people there are in Guatemala who do actually live in poverty, in huts and houses made from materials they can find, share and exchange. Given the circumstances it was rather inspiring seeing how resourceful the communities have to be. Then, there are those with the funds who can buy high street brands from the mall, having said that the prices are often too, too high so in some ways it makes more sense to purchase a plane ticket to the USA and cram suitcases full of nice, fashionable clothes for work and play.

Guatemalan clothing also reflects local creativity. People make their own clothes using traditional weaving and knitting to create brightly coloured patterns that tell specific stories about the women, their community and their family.

Lesson #4: Food. Food in Guatemala and in particular this restaurant Cafe Saul is AMAZING. The crepes were the most incredible crepes EVER. Food throughout the trip just tasted so ripe and fresh.

Happy pinata – Before…

Poor pinata – After…

Trip to El Puerto…

Yep, still no volcanoes…

Lesson #5: Communication. An outdoor advertising example above shows how copy isn’t always required – apparently a big Pepsi symbol will do just fine. A lot of the local independent shops are sponsored by key brands and what is interesting is you almost stumble across villages or towns that could be mistaken for being ‘Pepsi -owned’ or ‘Gallo – owned’ (the local beer) their logos and slogans can be seen everywhere, hand-painted on walls and shelters.

Canoe again – also trying to convince me that volcanoes really do exist here in Guatemala… “Honest” he says; “Honest… look, I’m looking you straight in the eyes, how could I lie to you?”

Guatemala’s rural villages haven’t see so much water and rain in years. This is the shallower flooding we witnessed on our travels to El Puerto.

Lesson #6: Compassion. There were children riding and pushing their bikes through water up to their waists trying to get to school (this pic is one of the shallower flood-hit villages). As they were trying their best to get around they all had smiles on their faces.

Wherever you are in the world there’s always time to herd the cattle int’nother patch o’grass.

Volcanic sand is super hot under the feet and the waves were some of the biggest I’ve seen, most definitely some of the loudest (struggled to capture it on film though)

Lesson #7: Patience. Below is a ‘new’ bridge being made out of old materials. The old bridge had just literally collapsed owing to the floods. Men from the community were busy working to make it better but it was single file traffic and rush hour so it was pretty hectic – again… everyone could only do what they could do and so continued smiling.

Us Brits get a little worried when 2cm of snow hit our streets, I wonder what we’d do with this much water? My battery on my camera died so I couldn’t capture it all – the local communities were busy trying to redirect the floods to point them away from their homes… again, smiling and laughing with one another while they work.

Lesson #8: Extremes. This is at the top of the hill away from the poverty, safe from the floods and not occupied right now as it was out of season. This community is full of houses and apartments all with access to their own beach, a few pools, dining areas and a bar. A summer vaca house for those with the cash to splash.

As we left the rural parts of El Puerto I captured a short clip of local community spirit…

I got a little crayon happy – well, if a restaurant has a paper cloth and puts a shot glass on the table with crayons in it I’m going to get a little creative.

Lesson #8: Pride. I was more than half expecting to be approached more frequently by adults and children begging for money but I think it only happened once in the market. I got the impression that Guatemalan people are very proud of their arts and crafts and their ability to offer a service or a product in exchange for money, no matter how small. Another reflection of the poor financial economy but rich trade of knowledge and creative talent they otherwise exchange between one another.

Guatemalan pineapple happens to be the best pineapple I think I have ever tasted – so juicy and so fresh.

In and amongst all the creative, handmade products sits a Rival Crock-Pot by Jarden.

Lesson #10: Hospitality. Marian’s family and friends completely spoiled me and made me feel a part of their families. I’m truly grateful and whilst my waistline expanded I wouldn’t have changed a thing about each one of my dining experiences (except maybe the beans?!). Sharing meal times was a huge part of the trip and is an integral part of Guatemalan culture. Some of the family who live in the center of Guatemala City welcomed me with open arms and cooked the most amazing traditional lunch. The flowers in the rice were so sweet and succulent and went beautifully with the homemade guacamole.

Lesson #11: Colour. Pinatas brighten the streets of Guatemala’s rather dark, gray streets and buildings (although I have to admit the weather wasn’t great when I was there so it probably looked a little grayer than usual). No doubt there was once a time when the buildings with beautiful architectural detail were so clean and attractive. These gorgeous buildings are beginning to peel and look a little dilapidated, I have hope for the future of Guatemala’s old town but sadly they need a serious injection of money to see change.

“This is what I’m cooking tomorrow night.” The master sushi chef was building up the family dinner the following night – yum!

Lesson #12: Green Rush (indeed!). Henry and Canoe came and picked us up for a fun packed day of trekking through the rain forest/jungle amongst the hills/mountains of Guatemala City. Nothing could have prepared me for this. It was the workout Marian and I had been craving after all the incredible hospitality from family and friends homes across the city!

The vision: right in the heart of Guatemala and moments from the city it will be an activities retreat for people wanting to experience a true Green Rush – from zip-lining to zorbing; horse riding to trekking; climbing to camping. It will have it all and so much more!

Right now it is all work in progress and we were lucky enough to get the special VIP treatment and a grand tour (hoping to open early/mid 2011 WTS)…

I didn’t manage to get any decent pics of all the landslides we saw especially as we were often driving past them a little too quickly to capture them. However, we did take a quick snapshot of the muddy matter at Green Rush so you could see it. Owing to the amount of rain water over the past few months when it mixes with the ground it loosens causing the land to shift and when it is ready to slide it comes away in huge pieces often damaging houses and having a devastating effect on roads and highways. It requires clever planning and local knowledge to carve and make the land as safe as possible.

We climbed to the top of Green Rush and as the sun burned through the clouds Guatemala unveiled a wee peak or two. However, when the sky is clear the view is meant to look a little something like this… (kindly sent from our friends in Guate just the other day)

This bamboo stick wasn’t a fashion statement – it frequently saved my life as we trekked up and down the slippery mud paths.

The workforce are busy building into the land pathways for visitors of Green Rush. Everything is being carefully crafted and considerately created around trees and plants and they’re aiming for the whole place to be as green and sustainable as possible.

The seats in this skillfully built amphitheater will utilise the main material seen throughout the retreat, bamboo. This place will be great for corporate talks and team briefings before, during and after the activities at Green Rush.

Lesson #13: Design. Traditional technology that would now often be seen in a museum in affluent cities across the world continue to be used in a city and country that is lacking in technological and economical development. This man made well is so refreshing to see, a hand crafted innovation at work.

It made me reflect on the number of things we have to design and physically make to help us get through the day. The more I thought about it the more I realised we don’t. Home improvement is probably the closest we get to making things with our bare hands. Other than that we rely on tools (often made in China) to assist us with daily tasks.

Coffee bean – hopefully over time the plantation will produce real coffee – exciting stuff!

This is moments before we both slipped down and got very, very muddy bottoms!

Lesson #14: Trekking requires proper foot wear. RIP Converse.

Our trip to Antigua…

Lesson #15: 5* Relaxation. Antigua is absolutely beautiful. We stayed in one of the most beautiful resorts central to Antigua at a great price the Casa Santo Domingo. A couple of days to get a bit of R&R while we digested all the incredible adventures we had been having and continuing to have with friends and family in Guatemala City.

Almost… nearly… so close to seeing the top of a volcano (amazing lunch though a restaurant owned by the hotel but up on the mountain overlooking Antigua in the valley, incredible location and fantastic service. For me this was the ‘ah ha’ moment of the whole trip – a sudden realisation of all I was taking in and absorbing).

Lesson #16: Sculpture. Both Guatemala and Antigua have copious amounts of sculpture. It appears to be a more current creative and cultural investment for both cities and they most certainly seem to know how to showcase a diverse number local established and emerging artists. I think there is a branding and marketing strategy for the country in there somewhere, maybe they could learn a lesson or two from Glasgow and Ohio… Guatemala ‘carving a new future as the city of sculpture’…

Tequila kept us going into the early hours most nights… or so I seem to remember?!

A small wedding party being assembled.

Lesson #17: PARTY!! There was a lot of partying to be had by all and almost every night took us to different hot spot (btw – photos have remained off the blog as the dancing made us all look a little sweaty ;0).

We managed to return to Guatemala City (after taking Marian the long way round Antigua) to a surprise party with family at her Uncle’s home and much to Marian’s delight it was of course a Dolphin’s (Miami American Football team) themed party. Fireworks went off and balloon games were more popular than a TV show or computer game as we practiced header techniques in the hallway.

Lesson #18: Andrews. Our morning-after-recovery-pick-me-up. Thank you.

Art that welcomed us back into Miami Airport…

Lesson #19: Re-adjusting. As we arrived back into Miami and left the ‘volcanoes’ behind us it all seemed a bit strange. Welcomed by the shiny floors and tall buildings, hot and humid air and lots and lots of artificial light. The flight was only two and bit hours and yet the country of Guatemala seemed worlds away from the shiny world of the USA.

I have to admit it took me a little while to adjust back into American culture. Peoples faces full of concern, furrowed brows and heavy shoulders – and that’s if their eyes were not covered by over-sized dark glasses.  It was so apparent to me that two hours on a plane felt more like several years in a time warp. I’d stepped out of the time machine onto Miami soil and felt I was looking at 2010 with fresh eyes (admittedly slightly tired eyes), a connected world where we’re actually all so disconnected.

Lesson #20: Life Lesson. I thoroughly recommend to anyone who is fully reliant on being ‘connected’ via digital means take a break away from it all. Switch off the technology and enter a world where life is lived, family and community are celebrated, talent and creativity nurtured and where ideas are implemented daily owing to them being a means of survival.

At the risk of sounding like an ‘Eat, Pray, Love-Julia-Roberts-peace-freak’ (which I’ve not read or watched by the way) I’d like to share my one true lesson learned from this very special trip to Guatemala… In a world where we take for granted everything because everything is determined and we struggle to define the value of life and success because we’re competing in an era saturated by information and competition, we need to remember we’re not having to wake everyday to survive the next, so in order to make some sense of it all – I believe we must stop, reflect and disconnect to reconnect.

Muchas gracias Guatemala, te extraño mucho!

I have to confess it is getting harder to write more frequently as I clock up the hours for work, have a few very tall guests around at the mo and have been planning trips over the coming weeks. All exciting and fun experiences though – it’s just finding the time to record them. What I also find interesting is when I do come online I get so easily distracted by everything else the web has to offer – Facebook, Twitter, TweetDeck, Skype, BBC, TED and the infamous You Tube.

I wasn’t an avid online video watcher before I came out to Miami – if I’m honest I was like a child who at the first taste of wine, screws their face up and looks like they will never, ever grow to like it. Now I’m in my late twenties and I’ve discovered the only time I screw my face up at wine is a) if it’s corked or b) if it’s a really, really cheap bottle that’s way too sweet. The thing with You Tube is I find myself intrigued by the homemade clips, fascinated by the TV shorts and catch-up skits, inspired by the seemingly Google-like quality it has (the search engine is getting better and easier to find relevant footage) and I’m probably using it more owing to my involvement in education too. It really helps me to communicate with the students and share examples in a more engaging way.

I also realised that I am actually watching less of what I am not that interested in (unless Mark has control of the remote and it’s Bear Grills omnibus or anything shark and snake related). Anyway, as I build my ‘network of interest’ (thank you Manuel from Havas SE – I’m quoting your good-self when you attended my class last week – and I find the channels of content that I really do want to be informed by – I am in control of my programming. Having said that, I still grow a small concern that I’m missing out the best bits that are no doubt elsewhere. I almost wish I had a personal social media consultant-guru that could build for me a healthy diet of media and communication. Like an ‘information dietitian‘ – with accountant qualities who can show me a return on investment (ROI)… my investment being; my time, my comments and possibly my money – although I think this new information economy doesn’t require money anymore. Who knows, maybe my prediction will come true?

I read today via a TweetDeck update that a New York Times journalist in 1909 predicted that in 100 yrs New York would have no cars, we’re now 100 years later and his prediction hasn’t quite come true. Shame really, it makes sense that highly populated areas don’t have cars.

On Tuesdays I look after a friend’s dog and this gives me a chance to be very aware of a dog’s body clock – AKA their bladder. Unfortunately every Tuesday for about a month now it has rained and in case you haven’t heard me say it before, a  shower in Miami is far from the showers and drizzle we experience in the UK. When it rains here it pours. In fact, I just took a moment right then to take him out and the heavens opened. Imagine walking between two rows of people, ten/twelve people in length and each one of them is throwing buckets of water at you – then you have the equivalent of a brief shower in Miami. Merge that with a warm breeze and bad Latino drivers and it’s like the Fun House has made a come back stateside (btw  – Pat Sharp’s Fun-House-hairstyle would be twice the size in this humidity)!

Apologies, I totally and utterly digress with all the above – what I really wanted to share in this post is my recent trip to San Francisco! Some of you have seen the pics and others have heard the stories – but heck, why not? I’ll summerise it all again…

After being so generously invited by friends who have relocated to San Francisco from London about 2yrs ago, I had a bed I just needed a plane ticket. $5 and a few thousand air miles later and I was ready to go (yup a $5 return ticket!). Now, I know American Airlines is a life experience not to be missed (?!) but should a passenger, like myself waiting to board, be worried when one of the  70+yr old air stewardess dabs a fair few too many drops of rescue remedy onto her tongue???

Moving on… having been ever so slightly cooped up in Miami for about 15months, Mark and I had done Key West and gone to Naples for a weekend but I hadn’t been out of Florida and really seen much else of the States. I was ready for a breathe of fresh air.

My wish was granted. As soon as I stepped outside the airport I could breathe! I got in the cab (driven by a man from Richmond, small world – although a bit abrupt, telling me off for calling it San Fran and not San Francisco… sorry but for the purpose of this entry I’m calling it SF). It wasn’t long before I met with our friend in the center of SF and we were catching up on a year or two’s worth of goss. As she drove me to her place in Sausalito on the way there we were up and down all the high streets, if you’ve never been to SF it’s hard to describe, but I’ll give it a go – a little like Postman Pat’s van bobbing over the northern landscape but overly populated with lots of quirky looking late 19th/early 20th century townhouses on either side of the road? Your car really does go up and down over steep, steep hills – it’s a roller coaster ride and a real-life Inception trip. In fact I’ve just stumbled across this rather amusing clip on You Tube of Americans trying to use clutch control while parking on one of the steepest hills in SF:

I was lucky enough to have several trips across the Golden Gate and see it at all different times of day and in many different weathers too. We arrived in Sausalito as the clouds lifted and what a beautifully, quaint neighbourhood. As we headed up another steep hill we arrived at their tree house which would be my home for a few days with a newly acquired flatmate Twitch…

I found myself high from the oxygen emitted from all the trees that surrounded me – I don’t think I stopped smiling. The humidity of Miami and flat landscape of Florida seemed worlds away and such a very different part of the USA.

Day two of the trip consisted of a whole day jammed full of stuff to do… a chartered sailing boat with crew sailed us around the Bay. Amazing. They said it was probably the best weather they had for sailing that season, it was windy but so invigorating. A seal was bobbing about, just chilling in the bay and the Golden Gate looked as strong and proud as the postcards portray it, and as the champagne flowed our ‘hen’ was appropriately happy amongst the bubbles, the laughter and the chat – whilst a lot of us had only met for the first time everyone was so down to earth and we all bantered as if we’d met years before.

We anchored at Angel Island and took a walk, did a bit of Geo-Caching and then headed back to the boat for the last leg of our trip. When we docked it was back to the tree house to brush out the knots in our hair and freshen up for a night out in the Financial District. The ferry took us past Alcatraz which I hope to revisit in the future. As we sipped G&Ts it was a very peaceful and civilised 30mins before the sun set over SF and the night of good food and great company was in full swing. The Piano Duel at an Irish Pub in the centre of SF topped off the night as we requested a Spice Girls number and they probably pulled off the best ‘zig-a-zig-ah’ cover in the USA – wish we had recorded it!

The following day included the most amazing drive via a British pub and then up and a little trek further to the top of Mount Tam. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. When we reached the top, a Fire Marshall is on watch and it would appear he has a little helper…

My last day in SF was just as visually stimulating, my friend took me on a whistle stop drive through the beautiful Golden Gate Park, past the museums I will be returning to and then we defied the laws of gravity and parked almost 90 degrees to the cross street to explore the famous Haight Street. A fab vibe, reminiscent of Camden Lock back in the 90s (and maybe 80s? but I remember the 90s). Just as we arrived there was a fire in one of the houses, I was amazed at the number of folk stopping to do a bit of citizen journalism so I snapped them snapping away.

So as the sun set on my trip to one of the most beautiful cities I have been to, I inhaled one last deep breathe of fresh air and headed south again to share my experiences.

I hope to not leave it so long until my next post. I’m off traveling again soon so I’ll be sure to post in a couple of weeks. WTS.

Bye for now…

]]> http://cu1turesponge.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/a-breathe-of-fresh-air/feed/ 0 Culture Sponge treehouse treehouse Twitch bay1 Golden Gate1 bay2 taj mahal sailing the bay British Pub at the foot of Mount Tam Foot of Mount Tam Mount Tam1 Mount Tam2 On route to Mt Tam on route to Mt Tam - Stinson Beach Overlooking Stinson Beach on route to Mt Tam En route to Mt Tam warning sign Rattle Snake - hardly zoomed in!! climbing Mt Tam climbing Mt Tam Fire Marshall top of Mount Tam chipmunk chipmunk GG Bridge Haight St Haight St Fire Happy street Haight St street art Near Ferry Building sunset over bay sunset on the Bay http://cu1turesponge.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/taking-time-to-appreciate-milton-glaser/ http://cu1turesponge.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/taking-time-to-appreciate-milton-glaser/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:44:26 +0000 Becca Taylor http://cu1turesponge.wordpress.com/?p=422 Continue reading →]]>

Milton Glaser. What an inspirational character. A gentle giant – knowledgeable, intelligent, passionate and yet softly spoken. The best way I could describe him after seeing him on-screen is; he is like a grandfather clock that stands tall and quietly confident until it reaches a new hour when after waiting patiently, it chimes with clarity as if reminding you of something important.

The truth is I have been thinking about posting. There has been a fair bit to comment on – natural and unnatural disasters and the USA’s reaction to BP, the dreaded Oil Spill and the new cap. At the other end of the spectrum and on a lighter note there has been the whole month of June – what an incredible month for sport – The World Cup – CONGRATULATIONS SPAIN, commiserations Netherlands; Wimbledon – CONGRATS too to Nadel, to Murray for reaching semis and – of course – to the longest tennis match ever between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut – so much fun to watch this year; then the NBA (basketball) Free Agents thing – Miami Heat has managed to secure the big three: Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh – I don’t know if we’ll manage to get tickets this season!?!

We were also lucky enough to have a couple of special guests grace our shores the end of May and June – a friend who trekked Peru and fancied a different kind of scenery stopped by for a few nights and my lovely sis came and lived here for almost a month they both had an incredibly important job to do – the daily-shifts included testing the temperature of the pool each day and ensuring the sun was good enough for an even tan. Whilst the night-shifts included the responsibilities of a hunter-gatherer as we explored the Brickell area and the Beach for a  few new watering holes and eateries. All in all, a fantastic introduction to the summer.

…And now we’re in July the British ‘summer time’ – birthdays, weddings, BBQs, cricket, rounders, tennis and football in the parks, on the commons and in back gardens. I’ve noticed Facebook is a little quieter as the Brits are finally outdoors soaking up the sun, catching up in beer gardens, packing picnics and walking dogs. Summer here in Miami is pretty hot – the weather is reaching record temperatures, hurricane season is upon us and when it rains it pours bringing a moment of freshness to the sticky humidity we’ll have until October. You step into the cold and out into the heat.

I think it was ironic that our little red Yaris (AKA Hamils [F1]) decided to lose all battery life on the last day of work for both Mark and I. The day before we were set to go traveling to Key West (again – but this time for a longer break) – both shattered from working quite a stint, especially Mark as he hadn’t had a break since Christmas we needed to recharge our batteries and spend some QT together.

We waited at the Toyota garage in Doral for Hamils to have his battery replaced and then we were officially on holiday. We packed enough for a month although it was only 5 days – we stuffed Hamils with clothes, shoes, SPF and anti-frizz hair products and made the journey down at ridiculous-o’clock Saturday morning to ensure we beat traffic and made time to pick up a Starbucks (tall, soy, chai tea latte, 2-pumps – I’ve got that down to a tee now ;0) and a McDonalds sausage and egg McMuffin breakfast for Mark. How American are we?!?!

Along the way we almost got eaten up by the biggest beast of a truck…

The only way we could fit the Beast in shot was via the wing mirror.

The Key West drive is probably the longest drive I will ever do for a jar of BBQ sauce – it is AMAZING we get the mild mannered one from Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shop – perfect with scrambled eggs and spinach, burgers and chicken.

Then when we arrived at the Casa Marina – and were welcomed by this… it was officially holiday time

The pools were on either side of the path that led to the sea and on the beach were hammocks that would sway in the breeze. This was the first time either of us had ever sat in real Key-West-style-hammocks held up by Palm trees – it was idyllic. The break was just what we had needed. Full of wonderful food, wine and cocktails, music and laughter. The people watching was fun too.

This delightful bakery is open only five weeks a year – the honey lemon cake is amazing! It is perfectly springy and spongy, soaked in lemon zest and sticky honey – a perfectly refreshing selection of flavours along with a cup of tea, the smell of the salty sea and warm bay breeze.

This was the amazing view of stormy skies across the harbour from A&B restaurant – incredible food, the crab cakes were so soft and fluffy and the service impeccable, then it was all topped off with a slice of the fresh and famous Key Lime Pie with a single candle to celebrate Mark’s birthday… a perfectly, delicious evening.

Other than a couple of moped rentals, which made Mark feel dead manly as I clung onto him – admittedly they sounded like hairdryers and were slow to take off… we were often left trailing behind cyclists at traffic lights ;0) – time really slowed right down, it was just what we needed before we hit the road once again and headed back along the seven-mile bridge and the 4hour drive up to Miami for a fun-filled week of football, tennis, July 4th fireworks, a 5k and catch up with friends before back to work and reality.

I’ll do my best to post at least every month or so. Especially as I have a feeling the next 11weeks back at university will bring with it more adventures and interesting experiences. So until then, wherever you are in the world I hope all is well and I hope you get a moment this summer to recharge your batteries.

It is funny to think that as soon as I got a job out here I’ve found it a little harder to find time to write up anything to the Culture Sponge blog. Maybe I’m just not so wide-eyed and bushy-tailed in this city anymore? The buildings around the Miami aren’t quite so unfamiliar, customer service attitude isn’t so alien, the politics aren’t really surprising, education is interesting – a little alternative, but not so threatening -, technology is available but not intrusive and the economics are still in troubling times for the city but not such a threat given that building and development has begun again which makes us all think it’s only going to improve.

Then it struck me, there have been a couple of American-Miami things we have been doing that I haven’t yet shared.

Key West with another two wonderful guests from the UK. What a place! We never thought a place only 4hours south of Miami could feel a million miles away. Not a high-rise in sight. A gallery owner we spoke to was proud to say she had lived in Key West for over 30yrs and it took lots of lobbying in the 80s to stop the high risers moving in and taking over.

It is quaint and to a point an untouched part of America. You certainly have to be a type of person to live there permanently – time stands still, nobody rushes, there’s no where to rush to, you can see the sunrise and the sunset, if you  are around Duval St (the main high street) and feel in a touristy area it’s not long before you realise that in and amongst the tourists are also the locals – why? because there is no other place for locals to go. Which makes Key West such an endearing and welcoming place.

Not to say it doesn’t have the typical tourist attractions, bus and boat tours, train rides and bike hires all make it a popular destination for the stereotypical tourist but the atmosphere is so relaxed and peaceful you can’t get annoyed by much at all.

I’m not sure I could spend more than a week down there but I now know we have a place to escape to if we need to just get away for an affordable weekend.

While we were there we went snorkeling on a big catamaran – the staff were four men-dudes with wild hair, surfer attitudes and sun blocked, white lips. When they took their glasses off they still looked like they had them on. One had a leather necklace with a small Dolphin emblazoned on a coin no bigger than a cent. We had two snorkeling stops, it was a beautiful day albeit a little windy so Jo and I got fully into the first trip but decided to sit on the boat and sun bathe the second one. Whilst the boys went out again we sat and enjoyed the sway of the catamaran bobbing on the top of the water. The man-dude with the dolphin necklace proceeded to tell us all about the Dolphins of Key West and how there is a pod of about 200+ Dolpins over nearer to the coast where it is shallow enough to feed but there is space for them to co-exist. He explained some amazing little facts that we didn’t know about Dolphins:

+  They are social mammals that hang out together at certain times of the day and they’ll swap who they meet up with, I guess to mix it up a little.

+ Each Dolphin has a unique name made up of clicks and whistles.

+ Each male Dolphin has a ‘wing man’ so when they mate with a female their best buddy hangs out round the front to hold the female in place (otherwise I guess they could never reproduce, the tides would never allow it)

And so he went on, very interesting but we were still to see any. We kept our eagle eyes out on the sea as we sailed back to the port but no such luck. Maybe next time.

After our snorkeling trip we were very hungry and so decided to head to Bo’s, a little shack that probably wouldn’t pass normal health and safety laws but in Key West, anything goes. We had fish’n'chips – Key West style. It was delicious.

After our tummies were full of scrumptious food we decided to go for a wander around the town and stumbled upon various places of interest.This bar just was bizzarre… I didn’t catch the name of the place but it is literally filled with dollar bills.

We realised the time and jumped back on the shuttle bus we were hijacking from the Double Tree (they had been kind enough to let us use it even though we weren’t actually staying with them ;0). Once back at our condo (amazing deal for one night: Sunrise Suites) we quickly got changed and ready for our night out around Key West. As it was our first year anniversary we had a table booked at The Hot Tin Roof which proved to be amazing – we watched the sunset and drank great wine with fantastic friends.

We decided to walk off the wonderful meal, our red-faces glowing in the night ;0) we strolled up Duval St and stumbled across a bar that Jo’s colleagues had recommend. The Garden of Eden. Clothing optional bar. ‘nuf said.

The night was certainly memorable. We made it back safely and awoke the next morning to another gorgeous sun-filled day and a chance to explore the galleries and beaches a little more. We went for a well-deserved brunch at the famous Pepes

and managed to stumble across another Red Door Gallery across this side of the Atlantic…(here is the link to the Edinburgh one)

Mark and I stopped by at Ernst Hemingway’s and decided to tag onto the tour of his house and gardens. A beautiful place, a perfect haven for writing and being creative. The famous six-toed cats are scattered about in deep sleep and are unafraid of the people around them – whilst they don’t look alive when we were told they are in fact real one would offer a tired stretch to prove he really is alive – it was another cue for our shoulders to drop and feel ultimately relaxed.

They say that the pool cost more than the house itself when it was bought – a whole 20,000 dollars more!?!

It was a hot day but there was also a sea breeze that kept us a little cooler. After the short tour we decided to walk up to the Southern Most Point, we laughed a lot as every single place, hotel, shop, gallery, bar was claiming it was the southern most, southern most point of Northern America. Very amusing.

To rest our feet Jo and I hobbled up to a beach where we lay and bathed in the sun for a couple of hours while the boys went and retrieved Hamils (the car). Our trip was over all too soon, but what a blast! A couple of days of indulgence and little bit of alternative American culture.

The view on the journey back from Key West to Miami… (famous 7mile bridge). Apart from a slight fuzzy head from the night before my head certainly felt clearer – a break which was very much needed.

Anyway, I have had three consecutive, fabulous weekends of a whole mixture of things and in fact a fourth one which will be another wonderful memory for years to come – we decided to host a little lunch/dinner party The Great British Roast at the end of Feb. It was a great excuse for a little house warming/birthday gathering and chance to share Roast Beef and Yorkshire puds with a handful of folk we’ve met so far.

The gravy was brilliant (thanks Mum [and thanks Granny] and Jamie Oliver) and everyone seemed to get into the spirit especially as we were a little low on chairs and couldn’t quite get away with “well, it’s a British tradition sitting on the floor and eating a full roast.” Still, after Jenga, ‘Hot Potato‘ (which, by the way if you’ve not played is SO much fun), Cranium, a wonderful mixture of puds and cheese and biccies and pots and pots of tea the wonderful day came to an end.

Then the past few weeks kicked in, where to begin…?

1. Melt

“Michael McKeever’s Melt is a play that explores, through compelling stories of Hispanic, black and Jewish families, the interactions of diverse cultures in melting-pot Miami. It debuted in 2007 at Coral Gables ‘New Theatre’, winning McKeever the Carbonell Award for best new work, and had subsequent productions at Sarasota’s Florida Studio Theatre, Miami’s Gusman Center for the Performing Arts and a staged reading at New York’s Primary Stages.”

What an incredible piece of local theatre. Mark and I had heard about it through a friend on facebook and thought it would be a good idea to go (especially as we’d made a pledge to do at least one cultural thing a month together). Even though it is a pretty small, indie theatre down in Coral Gables we booked the tickets online and off we went.

Michael McKeever pulled together such a thought provoking play that captures a complete mixture of controversial subjects – one minute the audience was laughing then crying then oooing and ahhhhing. Mark and I were right on the front row and felt practically on stage. The actors played their roles so naturally and having lived here for a few months I could relate to each one and understand how McKeever had edited the number of families down to four family scenarios: Jewish, Cuban, black and gay – apparently the original play was far, far more complex with many more layers but that would have been a five hour long play and not two.

Lela Elam played the role of Adelle a black lady brought up in Overtown, Miami and now an adult working in Civil Rights fighting against gentrification. Javier Siut who played Luis, the son of a Cuban family he worked for the City of Miami Planning & Development Dept and was arguing in favour of gentrification. The tension on stage between the two parts was phenomenal and I could sense the gasps amongst the audience and how it was completely dividing opinions.

Afterwards there was a Q&A with the Cast, Director and Writer and a chance to hear the secrets behind the play. It was really fascinating seeing just how diverse the audience was in reflection to the play and I have a feeling that ‘One Community, One Play’ has not finished there, I’m hoping they will provide us with an interesting array of productions to come.

2. Naples

Vera’s 30th celebrations started early and Mark and I were invited to experience a little bit of home – Naples. Vera’s family were so welcoming we had a wonderful time experiencing a completely different part of Florida. There are few main differences – the west coast has whiter, finer sand than Miami Beach and the trees and parks look far greener. Everywhere was immaculately manicured and the number of men and women who wore matching trousers and hard-collar t-shirts with sweaters tied round their necks was pretty fascinating.

Our journey through Alligator Alley had me a little car sick as Mark pushed Hamils up to 80 (maybe 100 a couple of times to feel like he was Lewis Hamilton – FYI there was a safe distance to do so as the road was long straight and dry for 90+miles) and I was Alligator spotting. I saw loads of them!! They’re pretty big things too. I was also amazed at the number of birds and wildlife I could see from the road. Two little wild deer were taking a drink from the river and whilst it was idyllic I couldn’t help but think the hungry alligators were keeping their beady eyes on them – it was, after all nearly lunch time.

We stayed in Naples just one night with ‘Claudia’ and her two permanently surprised looking cats. They’re both so sweet but not so confident with strangers, bless them. Their perfectly rounded eyes remained wide open and proof that they were confused with our presence.

After a wonderful evening of Japanese food at a place that had hot table service. By that I mean a hot plate at your table and the chef comes and cooks right in front of you. It was really yummy and we ended up also talking with a war-veteran photographer which was random but also very interesting.

We awoke the next day and to nurse the mild hangovers had breakfast in a lovely, little local place where the labels of the ketchup bottles actually read: ‘Fancy Ketchup’.

3. Feast with the Beasts

Another wonderful weekend took me to a very different place – Miami Zoo and the annual event of Feast with the Beasts. It was in full swing. Marian kindly invited me and I was completely unaware of the scale of this event. We entered the zoo at night time along with hundreds of other people all wrapped up as if it was minus-something and we were in the Arctic (might have been 40-something degrees) and handed maps to then wander around the park and follow our senses. I finally saw some Flamingos (first time since being here) pretty bright pinky/orangy tall birds shaking their heads in the water at their reflection and loads of White Ibis. They are quite large, clumsy looking birds and yet they manage to balance like round snowballs decorating the tree. I didn’t manage to snap any photos as my camera wasn’t picking up anything at night so I found this pic via Google…

Turns out as we made our way around the Zoo we were greeted by the smell of incredible food. From Paella to chocolate fondue to sushi to chowder to noodles…oh it went on and on and I must admit I felt a little sorry for the animals as we invaded their space. Each stand was cooking fresh food and serving all sorts of drinks allowing us to taste a little of what their restaurants in Miami had to offer. We asked the park-keepers if all this was unfair on the animals and she seemed to think it was fine as this event was only once a year. The Tigers were out at night so we could see them being pretty active in their sanctuary and instead of having bars up between visitors and animals they had a big moat. I was impressed the big cats hadn’t learned how to jump particularly far otherwise it would have been a far different event – more like a feast for the beasts.

Marian and I danced a little, drank a couple of Grey Goose and cranberry juice and relaxed into the Moroccan theme quite naturally – a lovely way to spend an evening, although I must admit I felt a little bad keeping the animals up so late.

4. The Biltmore

Post Vera’s 30th celebrations but an excuse to keep them going as long as possible we all met at The Biltmore in Coral Gables and had a guided tour around the place by a local Judge who volunteers there (lovely man) and he told us the history of the place. It was fascinating. I won’t go into too much detail now as you can find out more by clicking here. If you come and visit I recommend this as a must see and I would be more than happy to go again and have brunch there or a cocktail or two by the pool. Idyllic. Dating back to the 20s it has had a turbulent and yet fascinating past and having been to see Melt prior to visiting The Biltmore it helped me to appreciate the financial roller coaster ride that Miami’s history has been through.

After the Biltmore we ventured into Coral Gables and ate at Miss Saigon’s – a wonderfully yummy Vietnamese restaurant. It reminded me that there are hidden gems here and now we’re living off Miami Beach I’m feeling a sense of relief. It is as if I’ve now been given permission to find the hidden Miami, the real Miami, the Miami that isn’t easy to find in one or two weeks.

I think we’ve found a certain sense of normality – working, working out, TV dinners. ‘Who do you think you are’ has now made its way across the pond to the USA. We watched Sarah Jessica Parker delve into her past and discover how her family was involved with Salem and witchcraft. It was really interesting and I haven’t been able to say that much about American television.

Anyway, Miami is always going to be full of contradiction. It has to be, that’s what makes it so comforting and challenging at the same time. I wonder if my new found sense of normality would now feel challenged back in the UK? We’ll see, I’m not in any immediate rush to find out.