#83

Had a bit of fun this month with my back page Parting Shot feature for Lake & Sumter Style Magazine.

It's actually a teaser for an upcoming story on The Carousel Workshop, an art studio in Deland, Florida that specializes in restoring carousel horses and other amusement ride animals.

The magazine is available free throughout Lake and Sumter counties...

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#82

Well, the entertainment industry lost another heavy-hitter last week in what has seemed like an endless string of celebrity deaths. But this one was not at all unexpected, as Ghost and Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze lost a heroic two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

I'll be honest. It took me quite some time to get to like Swayze as an actor, the main reason being I hate the film Dirty Dancing. Yeah, it's just me. But Ghost won me over, and Road House ended up becoming one of my all-time favorite over the top cheesy action/love story flicks (boy, if that isn't a back-handed compliment!).

BTW, the quote in the title of this entry comes from Road House, which if you really think about it, is an old western cleverly disguised as a bar bouncer story. The black and white hats are clearly defined, Swayze plays the new sheriff in town, the outlaw gang fights the law man and his posse over and over, almost wins, but justice prevails, all the bad guys end up dead or in jail, and our hero Swayze ends up with the girl. A great re-telling of a classic story in a cartoonish way...

This photo is from the one time I got to meet Swayze, at the grand opening of the Miami Planet Hollywood in 1994. He is with his beautiful wife Lisa Niemi.

Be at peace, Patrick...

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#81

Yes, yes. I know I know. It has been FAR TOO long since my last blog entry. Oh, you can be sure I still have rather unusual thoughts, and still see, hear, and read rather unusual things. Oh yes indeed. Just that they haven't been finding their way here...

I guess so many of my observations and random brain burps now find their way onto my Facebook page, and it is so much more spontaneous, I suppose taking the time to organize my thoughts and come up with a well written (and funny!) blog entry on a regular basis has become much more of a chore. But I promise I'll be making the effort! And while this one will not be funny, I think it makes a very fitting return to the blogosphere for me.

This past Friday marked the anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster, and even after eight years it is still quite easy for me to quickly return to where I was and what I was doing that day. Far, far away from "Ground Zero", but close enough emotionally to still feel a sense of personal tragedy, I spent quite a bit of time sitting in my back yard that day in a light rain staring at the ground and trying to understand how it had all come to this.

And that is what I still do when 9/11 arrives each year. Like many, I stop and remember the victims and the heroes. But I also wonder what the state of the world actually is, and how close we are to another event on the scale of the destruction of the twin towers.

It's a very powerless feeling, because I can't honestly say I have any idea of how safe or vunerable we all really are. All I can do is trust there are many smart and hard working people who have dedicated their lives to protecting us.

And then, like many of you, I try to push it to the back of my mind, and return to the business of living my life. I can tell you one thing: this weekend that won't be an easy thing to do. And I don't want it to be...

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#80

Ok, my last blog entry was deep and dark. I need to go there once in a while. But now it's Christmas week, and I feel the urge to return to the lighter side of things.

I couldn't help but notice a story in my local paper today about how the Hormel Food Corporation has seen a very large increase lately in demand for it's famous, or should I say infamous SPAM line of "meat-like" products.

Not only that, but other tradtional "Baby Boomer Budget Foods" such as Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Kraft Velveeta and Macaroni & Cheese are showing robust sales as well.

Sigh! Throw in peanut butter and jelly, and you have some of the "nutritional powerhouses" I was raised on.

Or at least some of the comfort food I remember most fondly...

It's all signs of a struggling economy, as folks try to stretch their food dollar (and I use the term "food" loosely!) to the max.

For you kiddlins' out there too young to remember, let me quote nytimes.com:

Invented during the Great Depression by Jay Hormel, the son of the company's founder, Spam is a combination of ham, pork, sugar, salt, water, potato starch and a "hint" of sodium nitrite "to help Spam keep its gorgeous pink color," according to Hormel's Web site for the product.

Because it is vacuum-sealed in a can and does not require refrigeration, Spam can last for years. Hormel says "it's like meat with a pause button."

During World War II, Spam became a staple for Allied troops overseas. They introduced it to local residents, and it remains popular in many parts of the world where the troops were stationed.

Mmmmmmmmm! Meat with a pause button...

BTW, WWII aside, Spam was also a staple of many young 1960's moms, mine included...

Now while I have yet to succumb to this resurgent trend of, a'hem..."culinary simplicity", just reading about it makes me want to find a Twister game, break out my Monkees records, chow down on the stuff watching old episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and I Dream of Jeannie, then go for a ride on my Sting Ray bike...

Ah, a guy can dream about reliving his youth, can't he???

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#79

In the midst of this holiday season, where a bad economy has many of us simply searching for any signs of hope and optimism, let alone actual good news, the recent announcement that the murder case of 6-year-old Adam Walsh is finally closed comes with a bittersweet sadness.

By sheer coincidence, the gruesome discovery on December 11th of a child's remains
near the house of missing 2-year-old Caylee Anthony may prove to be a breakthrough in that case as well.

The circumstances of these two horrific events appear to be very different (Walsh abducted and killed by a drifter, Caylee's mother Casey the prime suspect in her disappearance), but they are destined to be forever linked by their innocent victims.

And while these stories are probably the last thing I want to blog, or even think about this time of year, the message they send is too powerful and too important to ignore.

My first apartment when I moved to South Florida in 1983 was in Hollywood. What appealed to me about the town at the time was how much it reminded me of the suburbs of New York City, where I grew up.

Hollywood truly seemed like a "Long Island with palm trees", and I was immediately comfortable living there. It wasn't too quiet, it wasn't too hectic, and it was a short drive from my new job in North Miami Beach.

And that's precisely what shattered the Age of Innocence for all of us when the Walsh tragedy occured. That a young boy seperated from his mother for just an instant could be kidnapped in broad daylight from such a public and seemingly safe place. A typical suburban mall that was literally across the street from the city's Police Department.

We were all suddenly facing the terrifying reality that no place is safe.

Now, I will not begin to pretend to know how a parent feels when their son or daughter goes missing under questionable circumstances. It's unimaginable.

But I'd guess at some point two huge questions begin to loom: "what has happened to them?" and if the answer to that one turns out to be tragic, "who is responsible for this?".

Assuming the unthinkable has happened and cannot be undone, at least getting the answers to those questions gives one a much healthier chance at closure and moving on.

And it surely must be a lot better than never knowing, always wondering...

And so the Walshes as well as the rest of us now have the answers about poor Adam. And the silver lining of that whole sad story is how Adam's father John, a most remarkable man, has devoted his life to protecting children, preventing a repeat of what happened to his son, and bringing to justice those who do break the law and commit these horrible acts.

It has led to his breakthrough televison show America's Most Wanted, the Code Adam program for lost children in department stores, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and even acts of Congress aimed at child safety and protection.

As for Caylee, perhaps this new discovery will shed some light on the first question, and eventually help answer the second one. With any luck, Caylee's mother's role in all of this will finally be revealed.

The message? Please stay close to your loved ones and do all you can to help keep them safe. And keep an extra eye out in public for those who have no one watching over them...

UPDATE EDIT: Authorities today announced that DNA tests confirm the found remains are indeed those of Caylee Anthony. Not to get into too many details (and in fact details at this point are still sketchy), but the ME said in a statement to the press the bone fragments did not reveal any trauma before death.

So, some important answers, but many more questions still left...

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#78

Food for thought:

I stumbled upon this whimsical nugget in a local paper's excerpt of the new Marci Shimoff (Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul) book, Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out.

Don't believe everything you think.

Scientists say we have 60,000 thoughts a day, and 95 percent of them are the same ones we had the day before. And 80 percent of habitual thoughts are negative. Know that your thoughts aren't always true - so you SHOULDN'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK. Happy people are more skeptical of their negative thoughts.

This cracks me up, because even though it sounds like a bit of double-talk, I'm convinced it's true, and in a strange way, the fact that I find it funny confirms what it says. Don't ask me to explain...

What I'd really like to know is how they came up with the 'thought number' and the 'thought percentages' to present their theory.

Can you say BRAIN PROBE???

The bottom line is this: I simply must make it a point to come up with new thoughts each and every day.

Hmmm, I wonder how much training it takes to become a stump grinder??? I've never really given it much thought...

And what do you plant to grow seedless grapes??? Can't be seeds...

Boy, this is easy! It'll be a cinch to think up all kinds of new things each day. Wish me luck!

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#77

It has often been said that The Beatles' Ringo Starr is one of the luckiest men on the face of the earth.

It's not that he lacked talent as a musician. Far from it. And he certainly became a fun and key component to the Fab Four phenomena that sparked the British Invasion as The Beatles exploded onto the American pop music scene in the early 1960's.

But, compared to his mates, Starr's skills (and looks) were marginal, and he ended up in the most famous musical group of all time pretty much through sheer luck and great timing.

Now, the flip side of that coin is Pete Best, who turns 67 today...

Best was the moody and dashingly good-looking original drummer for The Beatles, who for reasons known to only a select few, was unceremoniously dumped from the band right before they made it big.

It was Best's departure that allowed Ringo to step in and become a part of music history.

And so, the two have become forever connected for what has happened, and for what might have been.

Best, understandably crushed by the cruel turn of events, completely left music for a long while, eventually returning and forming several of his own bands with limited success. And to his credit, he even admits to being a fan of The Beatles.

And while the huge fame eluded him (although ironically he did indeed become infamous as the "Beatle" who missed out), he eventually got his long-overdue payday with the release of the massive compilation Beatles CD set Anthology, featuring a handful of tracks with him on drums (his take was estimated at between 1 and 4 million pounds!).

And so Happy Birthday Pete! It must have been so strange seeing how the lives and careers of your mates turned out...

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#76

I know, I know. Some of you have been bugging me that I haven't blogged in the longest time. It's true. My bad...

It's not that I haven't had a lot of fun topics to waste time blabbing about. It's more about actually having the time to waste. I promise to do better...

And so I'll get back on the hair of the dog (oh, how I love mixed metaphors!). And while it pains me to have to be serious from time to time, I figure what better occasion than on the eve of our biggest gift-giving season, in the midst of a recession, but also the afterglow of what may prove to be one of the most important and inspiring Presidential elections (and victories) in history.

Call it tough times with a renewed spirit, if you will. Serious stuff...

With this in mind, I recently received in the mail one of the greatest gift catalogs I've ever seen: the World Vision Gift Catalog. The timing couldn't have been better.

In today's day and age, it's gotten so that family and friends only seem to want gift cards as presents. The more generic the better.

Now don't get me wrong. I love giving gifts. Even when I've been dirt poor (uh, like this past summer?), I still like to find a way to give little things (like books or music or artwork or what not) to folks I care about to remind them that I'm thinking of them.

I especially enjoy sending things to friends and family that I don't get to see in person very often.

But at those times when my list becomes long, like around the end of the year holidays, I often take the path of least resistance and go with the gift cards.

At some point, the idea of exchanging $30 gift cards with everyone I know seems a bit pointless.

Which brings me back to World Vision. First of all, you are actually giving your gift to someone in need around the world in the name of the person on your list. So in that sense, it's a donation.

But more important is what these gifts really are. They are not superficial things like knick-knacks, or cheese balls, or gadgets, or liquor, or mall gift cards. Quite the opposite.

They are profound, life-changing items such as live animals for villagers and farmers, clean water and sanitation to drastically reduce the chance of health issues in a Third World community, shelter and educational opportunities for children and young people to help break the cycle of heartache and lifelong misery, sewing machines and similar tools to give many a chance to learn a trade.

Absolutely amazing things such as these and more. And the prices range from a little to a lot.

So, give it some thought. Ah go ahead, get your tween niece that $40 iTunes gift card. She's gonna bug the hell out of you until you do anyway. And get your significant other a nice bottle of wine or some jewelry. That's cool...

But for all those going through the motions gifts, or for those on your list whom you can't seem to think of anything meaningful to give, consider something from World Vision

Remember, a renewed spirit, even through the simplest actions, can help change the world...

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#75

The July issue of Lake & Sumter Style Magazine is out, and in it is probably the single largest feature I've shot to date: dog's best friend. It's a fun Q&A with a variety of local dog owners, and had me running around like a madman to get the shots.

Over a ten day period, I photographed 12 people with (I think) 13 dogs!

Pretty ruff job...

Now I know from experience that it can be tricky getting the average person to look good naturally posed in a photo on the fly. The same with pets. But to get them together looking good and relaxed was a challenge unlike anything I've ever faced (photographically speaking, that is).

Anyway, I'm very pleased that my patience and hard work seems to have paid off. The shots showed a nice variety of looks and lighting, and Creative Director Steve Cordraro did a great job laying it all out.

Oh, I snagged a cover, too...

And as a hard-core cat lover, I have a new apppreciation for dogs and all they bring to people's lives.

The magazine is available free throughout Lake & Sumter county. For a peek at an edited version, check them out online:

http://www.ocalastyle.com/lake.asp

http://www.ocalastyle.com/styleadmin...1226&zoneid=39

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#74

I'm pleased to announce that the Leesburg Center for the Arts has asked me to be their featured artist at this month's Evening at The Palace event.

Here's an excerpt from their press release with some of the details:

"An Evening at the Palace" will bring an exciting night of art, music and fine wine to Historic Downtown Leesburg this Thursday, May 29 from 5 to 8pm. Artist Steven Hlavac will show pieces from several of his exhibitions, including Destination: China, Floridustrial, and City Segments, as well as images of local landmarks such as Leesburg's Mote-Morris House and Tavares' Woodlea House. The evening will also be your last opportunity to bid on the "Girls Next Door" Silent Auction items sponsored by the Two Old Hags Wine Shoppe. You will enjoy accoustic guitar by Mike Merrell, chair massage by Tracey Samples and an extensive wine and beer menu at the Two Old Hags Wine Shoppe, located at the corner of 5th and Main Street in the beautifully restored Palace Building.

I'll be showing about ten or so framed pieces in the nice little outdoor "foyer" of The Palace building on Main Street in downtown Leesburg. With art, music, wine, and my witty charm at full throttle, what more could you ask for?

This is my first time being associated with either the event or the Leesburg Center for the Arts, and I'm very excited about the evening.

Hope to see you there!

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