TAMPA, FLA -
Today started on a down note, as far as news goes, for people of many different age groups. The bad news for the old folks was the closing of the historic, iconic, famous restaurant called Velencia Gardens. Apparently this place has been around since Florida was part of Africa. (You know, before that big tectonic plate shift happened. Or maybe it was a meteorite.) A bunch of really really old people who hang out there everyday showed up today and the door was padlocked shut. Someone called the restaurant manager in the "middle of the night" (probably about 8:39 PM) and told him "it's over". The truth is that I don't really care. I ate there once, had lunch with a bunch of accountants, and I was struck by the incredible formality of the place. It was pretty uncomfortable. The food was good though, and it was free.
So, I got to thinking about how some development group probably bought it, will tear the old building down, and go bankrupt. Then everytime a BB/GenX guy drives by they would sing "once it was an iconic restaurant, now its a field of flowers" - you know, the old Talking Heads song.
Then the news comes out that Charlie Crist, our orange governor, signed a bill that was put together by the morally bankrupt majority that rules the state legislature. The bill effectively gives the state to big developers, who will no doubt trash the place as soon as they get their hands on some money. That is just sad for everybody.
Then I get to work and accidently get on the web and find out that Caine (David Carradine) is dead. I have a theory that the Kung Fu/Evel Knievel thing back in the mid '70s changed the world, but nobody gives them the credit they deserve. Kind of sad for the BB generation.
THEN, I get home from work and turn on the TV, grab a beer and watch the Hillsborough County Commissioners meeting from this morning. They discussed the issue of people who play loud music in their cars for at least 15 minutes. I didn't know it, but there is a heavily enforced law against playing music in your car that can be heard 25 feet away. They were actually discussing the idea of starting a program where people could report the tag numbers of cars that played loud music, and the TPD would then send the loud music playing car a ticket in the mail. And keeping a straight face the whole time. A cop actually had to talk the city lawmakers out of it. The best quote: "It's not really a speeding or safety issue. These people are just driving real slow combing thier hair, eating their lunch, basically just on break". At this point in the day I'm thinking that this can't be real, but it's real, baby.
Then, finally some good news. A guy tried to return some stuff to a Wal-Mart somewhere, and the Wal-Mart people said no deal. So he set fire to a bunch of stuff in the store. We need more of that. We need more people trying to burn down Wal-Marts and less laws against listening to music.
"I killed a rattlesnake, now we've got something for dinner" - David Byrne
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