Orlando Local

Florida Highway Patrol State Trooper Harley-Davidson Police Road King, originally uploaded by lapd5150policemotor.

If it's a major U.S. holiday, you know that the cops will be out in full force with yet another "crackdown" for those of us who have the day off. The official claim is that they're trying to reduce traffic fatalities.

Bullshit. There are two reasons why cops write a lot of tickets on holidays. It's because the higher-ups recognize that a lot of travel is an excellent opportunity to earn revenue, so they make all the working cops get out there to write tickets. The working cops are pissed at the rest of us for enjoying ourselves while they work. Also, they know that they'll catch a ration of shit if they end the holiday crackdown period without enough tickets. There isn't a specified quota (that would be wrong), but the supervisor will let them know if they don't have enough tickets from such a target-rich opportunity.

While I'll believe that the average cop would rather not work a messy traffic death scene, I'm not swayed that the reason for this crackdown is safety. It's about the money. It's about sticking it to you for any infraction that earns revenue.

So please be aware that you aren't paranoid. They really are out to get you.

Lakers fans posed next to burning paper while celebrating their team's 99-86 NBA Finals win over Orlando in downtown Los Angeles Sunday. Police arrested 18 people for disturbing the peace, arson and other infractions. Eight officers received minor injuries. (Philip Scott Andrews/Associated Press)

Think about it. Aren't you glad now that the Orlando Magic didn't win the NBA Finals? If the Magic had won, then Orlando Magic fans would've felt compelled to destroy their own town, keeping up with a long tradition of vandalism from sports victories around the world.

Now that it's over, I'll say my peace about the Orlando Magic and the fans. I don't care. Really, truly, I just don't really care about professional sports. The Orlando Magic do not represent Orlando. Trust me, they will leave Orlando if their contract allows and there is a better job opportunity awaits them elsewhere. That isn't a criticism, it's just a business reality. The Orlando Magic is a show. It's paid entertainment. They did a great job of entertaining their fans this year, but so did the cast of Burn Notice taping their TV show in Miami. When that series ends, the cast and crew will go on to the next job, and so will the Magic.

So why do people get excited about professional sports, particularly at playoff time? There is absolutely no reason to do so. They aren't playing for your honor. They aren't playing to earn a tax break for you. As residents of Orlando (and the surrounding area), we get absolutely the same result if the Magic had won or lost the NBA finals - nothing! Not a damn thing.

While I don't care one way or another about the final outcome, I have to say that I'm glad it's over. Everywhere I went, people were expressing their "support" for the Orlando Magic. All of which had absolutely no effect upon the outcome, but it deludes the fans into thinking that "we" are all in this together. "We" can win.

Jesus, please. "We" weren't slugging it out during the whole NBA season. "We" weren't showing up for practice. "We" didn't have to fly back and forth across the country during post-season. "We" didn't do shit to affect the outcome of the game. Give the players, coaches and staff of the Orlando Magic the credit that THEY deserve.

I've heard that some of the "real" fans of the Orlando Magic didn't like all the new, "fake" fans who only start cheering once the team has already made it to the playoffs. On the one hand, I can understand. It's as though some interlopers showed up to take a piece of the glory that they didn't earn. Except, on the other hand, there is no glory for the fans. Remember, you didn't do a damn thing. At least, you didn't do anything to help the team win. Sure, you filled up the bars and yelled at TV sets, but I suspect most of you realize that a guy busting his ass on a basketball court isn't really able to psychically glean your beer-induced screams and push that much harder toward victory.

There is no point in having civic pride in the results of paying entertainers to come work in our town. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I have anything against them. I've met a few Magic players and each one seemed like a nice guy to me. I worked out in the same room at RDV with General Manager Otis Smith and thought the man was a great gentleman. I've run into other former pro basketball players around town who were assisting the Magic at one time or another (everyone from Curly Neal of the Harlem Globetrotters to Dr. J) and found each of them really nice. Even Dennis Scott was nice back in the days when he was hanging out at Pure Platinum watching naked women dance. I won't say that I know these people, but they were nice when we crossed paths. However, that's just not an excuse to believe that they really represent the town. They have a business endorsement from the city. We spend a LOT of our tax dollars supporting the Orlando Magic. Let's not forget when the Magic threatened to leave Orlando for another city during the 1990's. Money talks.

Wearing those Orlando Magic jerseys and t-shirts is really no different than the tourist that goes home with a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. It's just a way to show people who you like to pay for your entertainment.

So let's be glad it's over and we didn't win. Now we don't have to spend more of our tax dollars repairing the destruction to our town. We'll let Los Angeles deal with the burning cars, broken glass, and injured cops. Congratulations, Lakers.

Every year, Disney hosts Star Wars Weekends at Disney Hollywood Studios. They've introduced some new figures for the event this year. In doing so, they've completely perverted one of my precious memories of sexual awakening.

This is wrong on so many levels:

You can see other new collectible toys here.

I've been watching the news as our buffoons in the Florida Legislature debate the idea of a gambling compact in Florida. It's been a real clusterfuck. There doesn't seem to be a damn soul in Tallahassee that understands what to do with gambling, so they've beaten each other and ultimately given the Seminole Tribe exactly what it wants - a competition-free industry to run as they please.

There are those who claim Florida does not need or want gambling. It's a sin, it'll bring an influx of crime, etc. These people, let's call them morons, are completely insane. This is Florida. We already have crime. There are murders, rapes, and so many drugs that we've had major TV series based in the state to exploit the concept of Florida crime for entertainment and profit. We also have gambling, including state-sponsored lottery drawings, scratch cards, and driver's licenses (tell me that driving around here isn't gambling with your life). Morons seek to blame something or someone else for their problems without addressing the root cause, and gambling is a perfect scapegoat.

Aside from the state's gambling, we have plenty of parimutuel games with dogs & horses. Those establishments also run smoke-filled poker rooms. Then there is the casino cruise industry, which technically avoids the legal issue by cruising a few miles out to sea to let a captive audience try their luck. Florida has a thriving underground gambling industry. If you want a bookie, ask your next waiter. Chances are that someone in his restaurant is in debt for the bets he's placed with his bookie. Gambling is already here and has been here for decades.

The real issue here is not to prevent gambling, which has worked as successfully as the war on drugs or keeping kids from fucking each other in school. It's happening, so what we need to do is figure out how to get our share of the pie. Charlie Crist recognized that much when he made his original compact with the Seminoles. Now that the economy is in the shitter, everyone has his hand out for some magical source of funds. It's the perfect opportunity for the Seminole Tribe to step up and lock in the market for itself.

Our politicians are so damn greedy that they've completely neglected their responsibility to protect consumers from a monopoly. Instead, they've created yet another legal monopoly. If you want to do any gambling in the state, you have to go to the Seminole Tribe. For a paltry $300 Million next fiscal year, they get the right to choke odds and refuse comps to even the biggest player in the state. These guys must be laughing in their teepees over the stupidity of the white people in Tallahassee.

I had dinner last night with some friends who frequent Las Vegas about a dozen times a year. They aren't the biggest whales, but they have no problem forwarding out $50K to $100K per trip to gamble over a weekend. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. However, Las Vegas casino hosts treat them very well. So well that I've even gotten a few free rooms out there and I don't gamble enough to pay for Steve Wynn's underwear.

They own a business in Florida and travel the state quite a bit. When they played at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa, they asked a casino host to review their play for comps. The guy flat out told them there were no comps. Since there was no competition in the state, Seminole Hard Rock doesn't need to use comps to induce gamblers. Either you gamble with Seminole Hard Rock or you don't gamble at all. Then they tried the Hard Rock in Hollywood. A casino host there gave them all sorts of promises for a suite and comped dinner, provided they played at a given level. My friends played $41K over and above the limit specified by the host (Marcus), but then their comps were refused at checkout.

The lack of comps is only one part of the screwing that Florida gamblers will get from the Seminole Tribe. Without competition, they have no incentive to offer decent gambling odds. It doesn't matter if you're playing video poker or blackjack, they can screw with the payouts to essentially rob you of your money as soon as you put it in the machine. As with any other industry, gambling MUST have competition in order to offer the best value to the consumer.

Our Florida Legislature has basically fucked us right up the ass. I prefer to think they've done it out of sheer stupidity rather than malice, but the end result is the same. They'll claim that the gambling money will go for better education. Right. Just like they said when the voters approved a state lottery. Gambling money came in the front door and other funding went under the table.

If you want to eliminate crime in Florida, don't blame gambling. Blame the criminals in Tallahassee. There's more corruption there than in a gambling pit.

If you've ever thought there was no art in Orlando, the image above should show you how drastically incorrect you are. Fortunately, it's not the only example of artistic talent you'll find in town. The images you see here are all at 630 W. Central Blvd. in downtown Orlando, thanks to the Pintura Project.

I discovered this event because of Carolina, a face painter who decided to follow me on Twitter. Carolina was one of many artists there. She was painting faces (very nice lady, by the way). This is the kind of event I would've never heard about outside of Twitter. There are some pretty cool things happening in town and learning about them is just a matter of following a diverse crowd of people who happen to live in the same area. Carolina also paints at the Orlando Farmer's Market, so now I have a new excuse to go check out what's happening there one weekend.

In addition to the graffiti art, Pintura Project also had some DJ's playing and a bunch of break dancers doing things that make my spine hurt just to think about it. I'm impressed with the talent and acrobatics, but the main thing I noticed was that there were no girls doing any of those moves. Sorry, but I can't be staring at a bunch of dudes wriggling around on the ground. Women, yes. Next time this happens, please ask some women to break dance. I'll take pictures.

There was plenty of art on canvas inside the building. Some of it just blew me away, like this piece:

By the way, whoever modeled for that piece, I'd love to meet your for a photoshoot sometime. You can wear the same outfit (or less).

Most of the artists were busy working, so I didn't want to bother them. After all, it was a damn hot day and they were finishing up. These guys deserved a cold drink and I wasn't going to get in their way. Fortunately, I did get to talk to one of the artists, Know7. He showed me how they work from a concept drawing and then translate it to the wall. I'm seriously impressed, because I can't draw a stick figure without having an extra stick in an inappropriate spot.

Yet another nice guy. Seriously, almost everyone I met was smiling and friendly. Being a white dude, I honestly didn't know what to expect walking into a graffiti art project surrounded by rap, hip-hop and things that just aren't part of my world. What I found is something that I've generally believed - people are friendly everywhere. Be nice to them and they're nice to you. This was a great multicultural event with people of every ethnicity there, everyone having a good time.

Of course, a couple of the brothers did fuck with me a bit. After talking that picture of Know7, I was heading back up the sidewalk when a guy came up and put his arm around me. He pointed out another black guy coming up the sidewalk, asking me what's going on with him. The man looked batshit crazy and mean. I just told the guy that he looked friendly to me, and they both busted a guy laughing.

I don't know if this is the first time we've had a graffiti art project in Orlando or not, but I'd definitely hit up the next one that comes around. In the mean time, head over to 630 W. Central Blvd (between Division & Parramore) and check out some beautiful local art.

The Orlando Sentinel publishes daily mug shots from Orange County. Why? Is this a news service, participation in a local government program of shame, or just a means to drive advertising revenue? Although the Orlando Sentinel serves a larger area than just Orange County, why aren't mug shots from other agencies included?

Each photograph comes with a standard disclaimer:

These photographs and charges are provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Office of people booked into the Orange County Jail during the past 30 days. They have not been convicted of the charges listed and are presumed innocent. The charges listed were current as of the time the photo was taken. OrlandoSentinel.com will not update the status of these cases.

That's right, we presume that everyone here is innocent with a wink and a nod, but we're still going to post these photos in an attempt to drive advertising revenue and shame them at the same time. It doesn't matter that some of these people may actually be innocent. Just the fact that they're accused of a crime is enough to do whatever we want. After all, those images are public property. We have a right!

My gut tells me that a larger percentage of the people arrested probably are guilty, but so what? Posting photos of those arrested isn't relevant news. If it's an attempt to change behavior through shame, then it's misguided and ineffective. For those who truly are innocent, posting their photo only adds to their burden.

What stands out to me is the large advertisement displayed by each photograph. I suspect that this is just a business decision. It appeals to the morbid curiosity of people and allows the Orlando Sentinel to profit from anything that draws a reader's eyes to the page. It seems the real shame here is on the Orlando Sentinel for participating in the misery of others for its own benefit.

Pillowlando 09 - 496, originally uploaded by wbeem.

I attended my first Pillowlando event today in honor of International Pillow Fight Day. I gotta tell you that I had a really great time in Duncan Park (the grassy area in front of the SunTrust building in downtown Orlando). Everyone was smiling. It was just such a great day.



There were so many thoughts in my head as to how I was going to write up this story, which pictures I'd choose, etc.



Unfortunately, I got hit with the horrible news that my oldest dog, Max, died today. I just don't have the spirit to write the story anymore, so I'll just give you a link to the photo set that I uploaded to Flickr. There's also a great set on the Orlando Sentinel, too.

My Pillowlando Photos on Flickr

Orlando Sentinel's Pillowlando Photos

I was watching the news last night when Uncle Buddy showed up pushing his latest thing: Buy Local Orlando. My first thought was great! I get to sue the city for some kind of infringement. Then I realized that I probably wouldn't have a chance in hell, so I decided I should at least pay attention.

Buy Local programs are nothing new, so it's not like we're innovating here. The concept is to keep your money in the local economy in order to support your friends and neighbors. At first blush, it sounds like a good idea. Uncle Buddy warned us that shopping at national chains (Target Walmart, etc) provides the city with less revenue than shopping at a locally owned business. In fact, that was part of the press release.

According to an economic analysis, for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $45 goes back into the community and local tax base, and for every $100 spent at a non-local chain store, only $13 comes back to the local area. Buy Local Orlando, a partnership with the Disney Entrepreneur Center, is intended to be a multi-year program that educates the public and local businesses supports and strengthens locally-owned businesses and local jobs and keeps more dollars spent in our community.

Whenever the economy circles the toilet, you see this kind of "circle the wagons" mentality. When times are good, we're all about trade as a means to a better economy. That's why we grow oranges to sell to Californians and buy our oranges from South American nations. Either that, or we're just not growing the oranges that we want.

Businesses can register for the marketing campaign at a cost of $49, which seems reasonable. There's a fair chance that this campaign will let people know of local businesses that they didn't even know existed. Consider Urban Think Bookstore. A lot of us probably buy books at Amazon.com, but a quick visit to Urban Think's online site shows that you can get your books for the same price, plus $1. Is it worth a dollar to support a local bookstore? I'll give them a shot on my next order to find out.

Officially, this event kicks off on May 1st. Consumers get a Buy Local Card. Don't ask me why, I have no idea why I need a card in order to support local businesses. Maybe you get a discount, maybe it's a punch card and you win a prize. Who knows? I don't doubt it's the invention of some marketing weenie who thinks people will only participate in the campaign if you give them some carrot on a stick to chase.

I hope that's not the case. One of the hardest parts of getting people to buy locally is economies of scale. Walmart has immense buying power and it can get deals that small businesses simply can't match, in many cases. People shop where they get the most for their dollar, or where it's most convenient. That's why supermarkets pushed out all the little vendors. Why go to a produce market, a butcher shop, a bakery and a general store when you can just go to a supermarket and get it all under one roof?

Is a Buy Local card going to overcome the realities of price and convenience? Probably not. It's up to the local businesses to earn the loyalty of their customers. Some clearly do so. I bought my bike from Outspoken Bikes in Lake Mary, not a large sports chain. I bought some Nikon gear from Harmon Photo, not one of the large camera stores in New York. Countless local athletes know to buy their shoes at Track Shack. There's usually a good crowd of people eating at Dexter's, too.

Clearly, there are a lot of great places to shop locally and I can't mention all of them. In many cases, you can get better service from a more knowledgeable person buying locally than from a national chain. You may end up talking to the person who owns the business and knows the product better than anyone else, or you could talk to someone working part time wearing a company polo shirt.

Where do you want to spend your money?

Back in the mid-80's, we started something called "Light Up Orlando." The unofficial beginning of the festival started with the Kumquat Queen Sashay down Orange Avenue, leading to City Hall (conveniently located next door to Orlando Utilities Commission). The mayor would give a speech about how great and fun it was to live in Orlando, and then he'd hit an oversized electric switch (branded with the OUC logo) to kick off the party.

From there, all the lights in town came on, there was beer and live music in the streets, and a lot of litter in the morning (leading some of us to rename the event Blight Up Orlando). It was actually nice to have an adult party in the middle of town. Like most good things, it grew to the point of getting fucked up and commercialized. Soon, everyone was trying to use the event to market something to the people who just wanted to have a good time. We got a few headline bands, but I think the local bands were a better draw for a home-town event.

Now it's quite the opposite. Instead of lighting up and partying, we dim down for an hour and let them meander meaninglessly around town for Earth Hour.

What the fuck is Earth Hour? You're supposed to turn off your lights and live in Medieval Darkness for an hour. Why? Ostensibly, to take action on Global Warming. That's what they say. Personally, I think it's a test to see how many mindless morons exist in the world to do what they're told and feel good about themselves.

Way to go, Orlando! You're turning into a bunch of sycophants.

Don't be a mindless moron. Revolt against Earth Hour. Don't patronize any business that observes Earth Hour. Go out and do your own Kumquat Sashay, have a few drinks, turn on all the lights, and say FUCK YOU to the politically correct sumbitches who want to tell you what meaningless bullshit you have to do.

When someone comes along and complains that you aren't observing Earth Hour, point, laugh, and ridicule the mindless drones. Have another drink. The Earth will still be here in another hour. Maybe even longer.

Just clean up your mess when you're done. We don't need to blight up Orlando.

Dottie Schroeder, catcher, shouting play ball behind mask, originally uploaded by State Archives of Florida.

This post isn't specifically about the Orlando area, but it caught my attention because I love photography and history. The State Library & Archives of Florida now has a user account on Flickr.com, complete with a nice collection of photos of Florida history, such as this one of Dottie Schroeder, catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, shouting "play ball."

You can click on the photograph to visit the account on Flickr.com, or you can also visit www.floridamemory.com. Enjoy.

How many times have our local newscasters had to remind us about the upcoming switch to Digital TV? More times than I ever cared to hear, and probably more times than they cared to repeat. Since I've done absolutely nothing to remind you that television is changing, I hope to make up for my silence with this public service announcement

mountain nudie bar 022b, originally uploaded by sweetie pie press.

Every once in a while I see something in the search terms on the blog that seem worthy of a post. It's usually something I've overlooked, but also something that people want to know about within the Orlando area. Today's search phrase was "Nudie Bar."

It's pretty obvious why I haven't written about nudie bars around Orlando. They suck. Trust me, it's not worth visiting any of them. That wasn't the case from the mid-90's and earlier, but they've all pretty much been reigned in by the Bible Zealots who want Orlando to be a "family friendly" location.

Never mind that Disney World sells more liquor than anyone else in the area. Never mind that the nudie bars are NOWHERE NEAR any of the tourist attractions. Never mind that we have a convention business full of (mostly) men who could be dropping some serious change on Russian strippers at the Doll House. All of that is moot.

First, there is no "nudie" in our nudie bars. It's all pasties, bikini bottoms, and six-foot clearance from the dancer. Who the hell wants to waste their time with crap like that? It's an insult that a town like Orlando doesn't have a thriving adult entertainment industry for men to relieve their stress. No wonder we keep breaking murder records year after year. You take away the strippers, hookers and any other titillating business opportunities for people to relax, they're bound to turn to drugs. Per the Orange County Sheriff, most of the murders around here are related to drug lifestyle.

We had one shooting at a nudie bar last week. It was over an argument that started inside and spilled out into the parking lot when things got out of control. Why were people arguing? I think it's because they couldn't get a hot Russian stripper to grind a lap dance on them. Who the hell wants to talk to anyone else, much less argue, when you've got a naked girl springing your wood?

Orlando needs to rescind these stupid "morality" laws and let the strippers come back to work in Orlando. Until then, don't waste your time on nudie bars in Orlando.

I just read an article on the Orlando Sentinel site about a lockdown at Edgewater High School. When I was a kid in school, there was no such thing as a lockdown. However, things change. It seems that we hear about a lockdown all the time, particularly after horrific school shootings across the country. If there's a man with a gun near a school, they go on lockdown. I'm fine with that concept. Schools need to provide, first and foremost, a safe place for the community's children.

This time, Edgewater High School went on lockdown because two students got into a fight. Really. Seriously. What was the danger to the rest of the school population? A couple of high school kids got in a fight. An Orlando Police officer was "mildly injured" during the fight.

OK. Big deal. Discipline the kids, give the cop a Band-Aid, and let the rest of us get on with our day. Going on lockdown for such a common and trivial event is teaching our kids to be wimps. Who wants an entire generation of pussies that runs to hide every time something disrupts the normal flow or routine? It was a fight, deal with it.

Instead, we have a lockdown. Kids start sending text messages to their parents about it. The parents get nervous and think of the worst case scenario. They show up in droves to get their kids out of there someplace safe. Basically, everyone panics over a situation that doesn't concern them at all. This should be nothing more than an announcement over the PA the next morning, or some blurb in a note home to parents reminding them that kids shouldn't bring a knife to school. [The article mentions the officer found a knife in a student's backback, but it was not used in the fight.]

If I were a parent who showed up to get my kid out of school for this lockdown based upon a couple of students getting into a fight, I'm pretty sure I'd want to kick the Principal's ass for going overboard with the lockdown crap.

Remember when American's were tough? Remember when we learned we could face any adversity and still come out on top? Those aren't the lessons we're teaching our kids these days. It's pathetic.

Crowd attendance is down at NASCAR races, I presume because it's a luxury cost that many fans can no longer afford. Ad sponsors are pulling out because they have to prioritize their spending when customers aren't buying as much. On top of all that, the Big Three automakers are in deep shit. You don't see a lot of Toyotas or Hondas running in NASCAR. It's all GM, Ford, or Dodge. If they sink, what becomes of NASCAR?

So that begs the question of what happens to Daytona International Speedway. Sure, there are some other races, such as the AMA motorcycle races during Bike Week and the Rolex 24. There are other events inside the Speedway, such as Camping World. However, the NASCAR races are the big draw. If those events take a dive, the impact upon local tourism is going to roll right through the community. Hotels, restaurants and vendors are likely to feel the pain.

NASCAR President Mike Helton is asking fans to support NASCAR advertisers. When has that ever happened before? Basically, he's begging you to help NASCAR keep its advertisers. This isn't for the benefit of the fan's daily life. This is to keep more sponsors from bailing out on a sinking ship.

Personally, I don't give a damn about go-fast, turn left racing. However, it does seem to be something interesting to a large part of the population. I guess when it comes to rent or racing, NASCAR fans aren't quite as dumb as I previously thought. I don't think that NASCAR is going to die, but it does look like it's going to have a major transplant if things keep going this way.

The shuttle is off from the very last night launch. It's cloudy out tonight, but that actually helped the viewing from my back yard. The exhaust flame looked as though it was half a mile long during the main SRB launch. It was just a big, fiery streak across the sky.

When the SRB finally dropped, the shuttle seemed to change to being a bright star that slowly made its way across the sky from the east to the north. The star would get dimmer, and then suddenly brighten up a bit. While the first stage went by shortly, it seemed to take several minutes until the star finally disappeared.

Damn, I'm glad I didn't go over to the coast to watch this thing. Damn traffic is a nightmare and it's hot enough for mosquitos out there. Some of those people started getting their spots at 10:00 am this morning.

That's a lot of attention for a space truck that's delivering a recycling system that allows astronauts to drink their own urine. It's the new Tang.

Another August, another hurricane. There are a few things you can always expect with a hurricane coming to town.

1: Tony Mainolfi (WESH) will start fear mongering.
2: All sorts of people will give you preparation advice and dire warnings.
3: Lazy bastards who didn't get their supplies before the fear mongering will clog the roads, stores, and gas stations.
4: The local officials in the Keys will tell the tourists to get out (so they can make room for the hard core hurricane party folks).
5: Lots of people will lose power.
6: Lots of people will charge too much for something after it's over (ice, tree clearing, etc.)
7: We'll get warned about the next "disturbance in the tropics" before we've finished talking about this one.
8: It's a day without work, but still a suck-ass day.
9: The local lead news story will change to hurricane news.

Those of you who don't have water, ice and Pop-Tarts at your house already have been very annoying to me today. I have my act together, why don't you? You know this is going to happen at some point, so why the late rush to get batteries, water, and whatever else with the crowd of other morons? Buy this stuff in the Spring so you don't have to worry about it later.

The down side is that Sunday is my regular grocery day, so I've been caught up with the rest of you goobers while I try to get my regular fix of green grapes and turkey sandwich stuff. Remember your Boy Scout days (or show me your Girl Scout pictures): Be Prepared...then get out of my way. I'm looking for some grapes.

Most people are writing about fireworks and other celebrations today. That's outstanding and I don't fault them for it. However, I want to use the spirit of the day to remind us that our independence is under challenge and assault every day.

This clip is of Orlando Police officers denying a WFTV camera man the same basic rights allowed to other citizens simply because he carries a camera. They threaten him with arrest, even claiming they've already arrested another media person for trying to assert the same civil rights as others - to walk down a sidewalk. Clearly, the Orlando Police officers on the scene do not trust photographers and they are using coercion (threat of arrest) to prevent him from lawfully engaging in the same activity as others. Coercion is illegal in all 50 states.

Journalists and media have no more rights to access to a crime scene or police investigation than an ordinary citizen. They are ordinary citizens. That means they should also have the same rights. If the police allow people to access an area, they must allow ALL people to access an area. The law doesn't make exception for them to discriminate just because someone has a camera.

Enjoy our Independence, but keep your eyes open for those who would abuse their authority to curtail our freedoms. Orlando Police are among them.

Hawaiian Tropic Bikini Contest - 127, originally uploaded by wbeem.

I just read that 25-year-old Orlando woman, Samantha Harris, will be in the July Playboy issue as part of a 6-page article about the Cyber Girls.

Personally, I think she deserves to be the Playmate of the Month. Maybe it'll happen in time.

I grabbed this shot during the 2007 Hawaiian Tropic Swimsuit Contest.

I found this on The Disney Blog and had to share it. You never know when you need a Dancing Wookie fix.

The Face and Body Art International Conference is in town again. Once again, I'm there taking photos and enjoying the wonderful people who make great art. It runs through this weekend and I'll post a fuller story when it's done. For now, here are a few samples of the work these people create.