Only in Miami would H&R Block have their Tax Advice Day in Downtown Miami right outside the Courthouse while hiring a local Spanish Radio Station to have a live remote with music blaring.

Hundreds of Folks with H& R Shirts giving away cheesy stuff. Give me a break.

By the way, still no Satan replacement.

Wayne's World Tour

Costa Rica, Detroit, Jacksonville. These are just some of the places Wayne is headed to interview Satan's replacement. Anyone is better than the coach with the Napolean Complex.

Anyone have a paper bag?

The Saban at Alabama news conference makes me throw up. He talks a bunch of crap but at the end of the day he is a liar. He spews this philosophical garbage but its all hogwash...

Excuse me while I use the men's room.

Another One Bites the Dust..

2 in one day. Now Riley has a bit of an orthopedic issue and needs to treat some knee and hip issues. Guess losing doesnt sit too well with Riles!! He is taking a "Leave of Absence". Hell the way the Heat have been playing as of late, you wonder if he was already on leave???

Who will last the longest now..Ferdi Gonzalez of Los Marlins or that Jacques Guy who coaches that hockey team in Broward that nobody in Miami cares about anymore since they moved to North Broward.

Don't Let the Door Hit You in the Ass!!

Bye Bye Nick!! Great Article in The Herald.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16374957.htm

10am on Wednesday is Decision Time

Seems Nick wants to sleep on it a while before making his decision. What a crock of %^it!!

The money is too good to pass up and "with what face" (old latin expression translated..con que cara) will he come back to Wayne if he gets up tommorrow and decides he wants to stay.

The wife and I have talked extensively and come to the conclusion that there is no job like the head football coach at a major university in a college town ala Florida (Gainesville), FSU (Tallahassee), Alabama (Tuscaloosa), Auburn (whatever the town is called) or Oklahoma (Norman). These coaches are gods on campus. They live life away from the big city pressure. They can go to restuarants and out without much hoopla. The do what they please and never have the small radio or tv markets on their back for things they do. Add to that the quality of life for their families and the ability to create dynasties like Bowden, Spurrier and Stoops have done in the past.

Lastly, the life of a college coach is a cakewalk compared to the stress of the NFL, the players who play for the money and not the game and all the stuff that goes on in the offseason (i.e. drafts, minicamps). College on the other hand has recruiting but Spring has one month of practice in April/May and then a summer which can be low key other than August practice before the season starts. Heck, Spurrier played golf alot less in DC than when he was with UF and now with South Carolina.

Who cares about Saban

The buzz here in town is over some loser head football coach whom in all honesty sucks. 6-10, 7-9. That is unacceptable. Instead of keeping him onboard, they should fire him or ask him to take a pay cut.

Alabama is wooing him with 35 or 40 million bucks. Let the guy go for God Sakes!! Just read that Huizinga will not offer him more money to stay or extend his contract. That the right decision Wayne. Stand up to this loser and let him go back to where he came from.

Now the million dollar question is who do you bring in to rebuild this team back to greatness. I saw you get someone who is loyal and has coached this team before as their QB coach. Shula...not square jaw but his offspring Mike. Yes it sounds odd. Mike Shula gets fired and Saban takes his place and you hire Shula, but lets face it he has coached Miami and is part of a football family.

My New Year's Resolution

To write more and more often on this blog...

Happy New Year!!

Are they really leaving

You hear daily how people are leaving Miami in droves. Moving to Western Florida, Cape Coral, Fort Myers. Others are hitting the Gainesville/Ocala area. Radio has those dumb commercials for houses in Ocala for mid 100s. Other friends are more daring. North Carolina, Georgia or Tennessee.

The hell with that...if I go I am doing something drastic. Wyoming or Montana. Sell my 600k home, take the 500k in equity and buy some nice ranch. Maybe couple hundred acres on some river near Cheyenne. Insurance for Home & Auto under 500 bucks. No Hurricanes. Snow but nothing a 4x4 cant handle.

So what if its in the Boonies. Here are some reasons why its not that big a deal...

FedEx still delivers anything you would ever need.
Shopping by Catalog is Fun.
WalMart will only be half hour away tops.
DirectTV...what else can I say
Internet by Satellite.

Close yet so far away!!

Back for More

Its been a while since I have posted. Lots of other things which have overwhelmed me over the past few months like work and family.

This afternoon though was one of those lunch hours that make people want to leave Miami for good. Everywhere I went there were lines and more lines. Lines at the drive through at the fast food place. A Line at JiffyLube to get your oil changed. Lines to get into Shopping Centers. Maybe it is time to cash out and split town for North Florida or somewhere in the Southeast US.

Politics and Versailles..Good Luck to Mr. Pete Monroe

I drove by the quinessential political hangout this morning on my way back to the office only to find a huge rental RV with an enormous sign painted on its side about Pete Monroe for US Senate waiting to head East on Calle Ocho.

Who is this guy I thought? I am pretty much in tune with local and state politics. Turns out Mr. Monroe from Safety Harbor (Somewhere near Tampa) is probably trying to get some free pub with the old school Miami Exile community. Wonder if he likes his cortadito claro o oscuro? Bet he practiced his Spanish...

Truth be told, the guy is probably one hell of a nice guy and the fact that he served on Reagan's staff in D.C. only helps things for him since every old Cuban loves Reagan even though the guy never accomplished anything as far as Cuba was concerned.

You could throw a veteran experienced Democrat with impeccable credentials and a anti-castro voting record against a 22yo Publix BagBoy who runs as a Republican. The Cubans (including mis abuelos (may they rest in peace)) would vote straight party line for El Republicano without looking at one issue. Its just the way they think..

Only in Miami!!

Summer is Officially Over

School is back in session. You wanna see how diverse this town is...just head down to the local elementary school. Traffic is back with a vengeance. Buses and cards carrying kids to school all over town. Add a good 20% to your commute at least.

Great Publicity for Miami

Front page of the CNN website yesterday morning had a Metro-Dade Cop with an automatic rifle at MIA. Just the type of welcome that keeps the tourists coming back.

No News...

Here we are a week later and the natives are quiet here in the magic city. No longer are the people in the streets of Little Havana. However some old man is making a fortune selling small Cuban flags next to Versailles Restaurant out of the back of his car. Driving round town I have been seeing more of those car flags with the Cuban Flag instead of the regular college or professional sports team on them. Given the recent news, I would be surprised if the local stations already have obituary pieces, photo montages and other special video ready to roll. The Herald has to have a list of headlines ready to choose from. Here are some of my favorites:

CASTRO DEAD..MIAMI CELEBRATES

CASTRO DEAD...CUBANS CELEBRATE

LIBERTAD AT LAST...CASTRO DEAD

CASTRO DEAD...CUBA & MIAMI EXILES IN STREETS

(Feel free to add your own)


Along with any of those, I would guess one picture of beardycakes alive and then a pic of the celebration in the streets. If I were Editor, that would be my choice.

Miami...Post Castro

This is the 20 Million Dollar Question. Miamians heading back? Cubans heading over? The last of the Gringos cashing out and leaving for Charlotte or Atlanta or Ocala?

I have a theory..one which alot of friends laugh at. I believe that the new Cubans those who came after Mariel either by raft or through 3rd countries will split and head back home. With that, they will sell what they have here and bail Miami to try to start over in Cuba.

Another theory...all that pricey real estate on Brickell and Miami Beach...all them condos..they will continue to fall in price as the foreign money that is keeping that biz afloat will be invested in a new Cuba. No longer will the Columbians, Venezuelans or Brazilians invest here when they can be part of something me in Cuba. Why speculate here after the boom when you can go in on the ground floor. I am holding out so I can buy me that Oceanfront Condo in Hallendale or North Miami Beach for under $135k. It will be just me and the Canadians

Things to go on the backburner....

Now that this Fidel thing is brewing in Miami, let me just think of a few things that will be forgotten about or placed on the backburner with all this Castro/Cuba Stuff talking over the Miami News Cycle.

What ever happened to that Marlins Stadium in Hialeah?
What about the Housing Agency Scandal?
Lets not forget that Real Estate Boom...wanna buy a cheap condo?
Reaction to the Mideast Crisis in the Aventura/Miami Beach Area?
Ricky Williams.. (Just kidding)

Tropical Storm Chris will take out Fidel Castro

El weekend is here and gracias a Dios there is no storm. Looks like TS/TD Chris going to skirt along the northern coast of Cuba. Miami will remain outside the real cone of concern long enough to sit patiently and wait for the next move. Seems like the crowds are lighter and the hoopla has subsided enough that even folks in Little Havana and Hialeah has returned to normalcy. Seems like they needed all those pans back to cook picadillo and frijoles. Those of us outside the beltway (west of 826 & south of la calle ocho) never really were affected but nonetheless stayed away from the hysteria that never came.

We are fine over here..we love it!!

Some Cubans enjoy comforts of communism
VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press

HAVANA - Park cleaner Froilan Mezquia sleeps in the shed where he stores his supplies and hasn't had a real meal in three days. The 62-year-old also received years of free medical treatment for throat cancer.

In Cuba's communist society, where every day is a struggle but survival is practically guaranteed, Mezquia's story helps explain why people didn't flood the streets clamoring for change when Fidel Castro stepped down for surgery this week.

The reasons Cubans took the events in such stride are complex. Castro supporters say it's because of Cubans' deep belief in socialist ideals; detractors say it's all about fear. Conviction and dread aside, many Cubans find genuine comfort in the communist system, and reject U.S.-style democracy and values.

"I could go to the United States, or I could go to Mexico," said the slight Mezquia, smoking a cigarette on gazebo steps next to his garbage-collecting cart. "But I was born here, and here is where I'll die."

Mezquia's former wife and four children live in Mexico, and from what he hears, capitalist countries are filled with cruelty, hardship - and certainly no free health care.

"They pay you more, but you must spend so much more just to live," he said.

Cubans who have left the island come back to visit relatives laden with gifts and goods, symbols of the material wealth to be found beyond Cuba's borders. But they also speak of people working multiple jobs just to get by and of people who don't know their neighbors - foreign concepts in Cuba.

When outsiders think of Cuba, it's often the lack of political freedoms and economic power that comes to mind. Cubans who have chosen to stay on the island, however, are quick to point out the positives: safe streets, a rich and accessible cultural life, a leisurely lifestyle to enjoy with family and friends.

There are, of course, hundreds of dissidents and political prisoners on the island of 11 million who abhor the system and feel a desperate need for rapid change. But most Cubans would not list political repression among their most immediate concerns.

For all its flaws, life in Castro's Cuba has its comforts, and unknown alternatives are not automatically more attractive. The idea of Cuba without "El Comandante," who has been in power for nearly five decades, provokes alarm and uncertainty - and a tremendous fear they could lose their way of life.

"For me, this is very painful," Mezquia said of this week's events. The 79-year-old Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul on Monday night after surgery to repair internal bleeding. Details were not made public, but Cuba's health minister said Friday that Castro was "recovering satisfactorily."

Drew Blakeney, spokesman for the U.S. mission in Havana, acknowledged that Cubans are fearful of change.

"This is something totally new and disorienting for them," he said. "There seems to be a lot of fear, and a lot of worry, after 47 years of constant rule by one person."

Indeed, though Mezquia believes Raul Castro will follow the same political line as his brother, he fears things will never be the same if Fidel fails to return to power.

"There is only one Fidel Castro," he said. "He is the one who was born with the ideals that made Cuba."

Many foreigners consider it propaganda when Castro's government enumerates its accomplishments, but many Cubans take pride in their free education system, high literacy rates and top-notch doctors. Ardent Castro supporters say life in the United States, in contrast, seems selfish, superficial, and - despite its riches - ultimately unsatisfying.

"Socialism is superior to capitalism. It's much more humane," said retiree Luis Poey, 66, whose last job was delivering food to workers in Old Havana.

These Cubans even defend their system as a democracy in which the National Assembly and provincial and city leaders are directly elected. Assembly members then elect one of their own to be president of the country - Castro, a representative from the eastern city of Santiago, has repeatedly won out.

Castro's critics say the notion that Cuba is democratic is a farce - that tight state control, a heavy police presence and neighborhood-watch groups reporting on "anti-revolutionary" conduct prevent any real political freedom.

Some Cubans retort that a system allowing President Bush to "steal" elections and wage wars without the people's support is certainly more flawed than their own.

Even the dissidents have seemed a bit bewildered this week, saying they need to "wait and see" what Fidel Castro's temporary exit means.

Meanwhile, both Castros have been out of sight, with a continued focus by state-run news media on Fidel's recovery, rather than Raul's stewardship.

For Mezquia, Fidel Castro is Cuba, a link that won't be easily erased.

"Raul Castro will give no speeches until Fidel Castro decides it's time," Mezquia said. "I think even after he dies, Fidel Castro will still be in charge."

This article is mindboggling. Makes cubans on the island look lazy, lacking desire/direction and frankly stupid. Why dont they realize that the streets are "safe" since the military will round up anyone causing trouble. That rich cultural life is fine so long as they dont leave the country where someone always seems to defect. Leisurely lifestyle means they dont have a pot to piss in so they are stuck staying at home instead of being able to go out for a movie or dinner or whatever.

Raul is on the local milk carton

Tienes Leche??
Got Milk??

#1 Movie Rental at "El Blocbuster"