Yours truly stayed up 'til 2:15 Monday morning so I could be sure of successfully taping Fellini's ROMA on Turner Classic Movies, http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=196970 which I haven't seen since the early-to-mid '90's, when I saw it at the National Gallery of Art film series.
http://www.nga.gov/programs/film/
One of the biggest things I still desperately miss about being down here and not up in Washington is getting big doses of culture like that during the summer -for free!- in an auditorium that has an A/C that can really crank out cool air.
(And then meltas soon as I take one step outside afterwards into the summer swelter.)
I watched the Olympic Trials for gymnastics on NBC Saturday and Sunday night, and was pleased to see that Coconut Creek's Jana Bieger was solid as a rock in all of her events, since she looks like a good bet to qualify for the trip to Beijing, if things go okay at Camp Karolyi in Texas.
See http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/06/lonely-jana-bie.html and http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/other/sfl-flspolyrdp23sbjun23,0,94678.story
I'll have a post pretty soon over at South Beach Hoosier with my thoughts and observations on the Women's trials in Philadelphia, and my pleasure at finally deciding to download the software to watch the Men's trials live on Universal Sports, via the internet.
Never having watched a live sporting event on my own computer before, it was fantastic to not only be able to watch live, but the picture quality and perspective were truly amazing.
I was literally dumbfounded!
I'll share the download info in that future post so you can try it yourself, as it'll prove invaluable once the Beijing Games start in 44 days. http://en.beijing2008.cn/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, we might have a second-rate, Third World transportation system down here in South Florida, but you can't deny we can throw meetings together like nobody's business!
See a veritable wonk soup of acronyms and descriptions from the FDOT Planning webpage, which I found over the weekend while looking for something else entirely.
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/planning/generalinfo/calendar.htm
Noticed that Gov. Crist will be back down here on Wed. & Thurs. for a green conference at the Miami InterContinental Eyesore, once they get rid of those pesky mayors and their retinues of flacks and hangers-on: 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/env/home/
Be there or be square -or simply watch the webcast.
http://www.myfloridaclimate.com/env/home/webcast_watch_it_live
They seem to have invited nearly everyone who could figure out a coherent way of getting the words "climate" and "strategy" into a company or organizational name.
Why didn't I think of that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommend you peruse this example of a fair-minded guest Op Ed, in this case, on the contentious issue of Alligator Alley privatization: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/20/guest-commentary-alligator-alley-proposal-should-b/
Since I have to play the role of the scold on both of my blogs more often that I wish were necessary, reminding government employees or pols what their moral and fiduciary duties and responsibilities are to the taxpayer, I didn't want to let something positive pass by without my sharing it with you all, insignificant though it may be to the whole scheme of things.
I had something happen to me while driving last week which, while not as historic as Paul Revere's Ride, was historical hereabouts, and almost in the category of epiphany.
Or, this being South Florida, the gateway to Latin America, magic realism.
Last Wednesday night I was at the joint Bernard Zyscovich/Hollywood CRA joint meeting at Hollywood City Hall to hear what's come to become known in shorthand as "the Zyscovich Plan," as well as the expansion of the Downtown CRA and Zyscovich's ideas for implementing a coordinated plan in Hollywood that is both logical and attractive for business and residents, yet avoids the parochial sort of us. vs. them fights that will be inevitable without design regs that everyone agrees on beforehand.
See http://www.zyscovich.com/search.cfm?p=1&term=Hollywood
As previously mentioned, I'd been to the previous forum on this subject, where my hand was at pains to keep up and jot down all the interesting things Bernard Zyscovich was saying throughout his Power Point presentation and in the Q&A afterwards.
Because this more formal meeting drew a larger turnout than the prior one among the usual suspects of Hollywood's public policy and punditry world, the meeting was moved from its original location in Room 219 to the Commission Chambers.
As someone who was originally standing in the hall outside Room 219 before it started, I was glad to see such common sense so rapidly deployed.
Among the folks there, of course, was Mr. Warner from WSG Development, the man who seems to be rapidly gaining the reputation for being the most honest and reasonable developer in the Hollywood area. http://www.wsgdevelopment.net/
I also finally got the opportunity to formally introduce myself to Sara Case, the editor of the Balance Sheet Online, and a member of the new Hollywood Charter Review Committee, which is no doubt swimming in about 1,001 good suggestions.
I really admire her hard work and dedication to an area that she so clearly loves, and only wish that there were more folks with her aptitude and enthusiasm liberally sprinkled throughout South Florida, not least of all, here in Hallandale Beach.
Prior to meeting her, I had dropped her a public policy or head's-up email every now and then, since first starting my own efforts early last year.
Frankly, given how much time I spend in Hollywood, and the memories I have of it starting in 1968, I just wanted her to finally be able to connect a face in the crowd to the public policy emails she's been on the receiving end of.
As I describe her website on my HBB blog roll: http://www.balancesheetonline.com/
Blog -Balance Sheet Online: A Hollywood (FL)-based public interest, community affairs blog on south Broward County and environs, led by Editor Sara Case. My kind of blog: Identifies areas of concerns and proposes solutions, but takes no prisoners among elected officials or the chattering class!
After the meeting was over, I had to wait for the traffic light south of City Hall to change in order to get out of the parking lot, but once out, driving east on Hollywood Blvd., I was quite amazed to find myself catching every single green light, the exact opposite of my experience earlier getting to the meeting in the rain via S. 1st Avenue, the street parallel to W. Dixie Highway.
Continuing east approaching Young Circle, the area that's been the subject of so much genuine enthusiasm and anger, I then caught the green light at the bottom of Young Circle -which has never happened in four years.
I then continued home south on U.S.-1 and by the time I'd passed Hollywood Central Elementary, I was pinching myself, because this feat of catching nothing but green lights had, so I'd been told by griots, never been accomplished by anyone who had lived to tell the tale.
Well, I made it all the way home south of Hallandale Beach Blvd., 3.1 miles, with nary a red light but the first one.
Naturally, once I stepped thru the door and sat down on the couch, I couldn't help but wonder, "Was it all a dream?" (Like Bobby Ewing's season-long shower on Dallas?)
No, it really happened to me in the Traffic year of 2008.
Showing posts with label Balance Sheet Online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balance Sheet Online. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Mini-review of April 16, 2008 HB City Comm. mtg.
Wednesday April 16th, 2008
11:45 p.m.
Just got back from spending four hours at the Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting.
They took a breath and a break at 11:30 after a long night and that was my cue to come home.
Am currently watching ABC News' Nightline's review of the Clinton-Obama debate, which I'll probably watch in its entirety some other time on C-SPAN, and will soon be rewinding my videotape that caught tonight's new episode of longtime TV favorite Criminal Minds., which I LOVE! http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/
Don't mind telling you, I was greatly concerned when it became clear that the wonderful Mandy Patinkin was leaving the show, but what better way to try to replace a great character on a show that requires great ensemble skills than getting a great and talented professional like Joe Mantegna, who makes everyone look better -just like Dan Marino and Michael Jordan.
See http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/ , http://www.mandypatinkin.net/cd.html and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001505/ )
Given those wonderful skills, the show's producers were genius casting his character as someone who'd previously been a 'lone wolf' while creating the BAU team at Quantico.
That's right -casting against type!
Some times, it really works!
Not that I don't still find myself singing or humming Patinkin's particular versions of great American standards, since I went thru two copies of his great eponymous album while living in D.C., often listening to it over and over -and over -while walking, running or biking along The National Mall on way over to Reagan National Airport or Arlington National Cemetery.
See http://www.mandypatinkin.net/cdmp.html
Will have more to say on Thursday about the HB City Commission meeting, including fireworks in afternoon session, and some other things, but these are the two main points I wanted to leave you with until manana:
1.) For the presentation on the Oasis project on the 11oo block of East Hallandale Beach Blvd., Joseph Geller filled-in and took over first-chair for brother Senator Steve Geller who was still up in Tallahassee.
2. The Oasis project passed the city commission's first reading, along with an amendment by Comm. Keith London that would ensure that the project's flex units would revert back to the city if there were no progress on the ambitious project within 48 months of pulling the first permit for phase one, which will be the five-story retail and commercial office development along HBB -153,000 square feet- and the four-story garage behind it.
The 27-story residential building, which would border a future and absolutely necessary S.E. 2nd Street, will be the second phase.
This particular amendment is the city learning the painful lessons of The European Club on HBB and Three Islands, which failed colossally and is still an empty and ugly area eyesore after all this time.
Judging things by a PowerPoint presentation, of course, is no way to judge anything so large.
What I saw actually looked pretty good, but...
That particular lesson was learned the hard way by current and former members of the Hollywood City Commission -Comm. Richard Blattner?- who lamented out loud two weeks ago tonight, when comparing how great Radius looked on Young Circle -on paper and against the city commission wall- and the sad current reality, where it creates a canyon effect, albeit a curved canyon. See http://www.radiuscondo.com/ and
http://localism.com/article/186587/Desperately-seeking-a-Seller-Radius-Condo
Well, it's not like there weren't critics of Radius, witness the very last breaths of Beth Dunlop's impassioned 2004 column in the Herald, "Razing of history may bust Hollywood's boom" which pondered whether the City of Hollywood would be as wise and prescient as the hard-working man who had founded the city decades ago, Joseph Young.
The excerpt below comes from the smart, savvy and civic-minded folks at Balance Sheet Online, a Hallandale Beach Blog linked fave since Blog Day One.
http://www.balancesheetonline.com/bdunlop.htm
CAMPED OUT
When Radius opened its sales office, potential buyers camped out overnight to be first in line -- reminiscent of old photos of the 1920s land boom. Radius has great slogans -- ''Once you've gone round, you'll never be square again'' and ''Don't be square. Live the circle.'' -- but perfectly unexceptional architecture, blocky buildings on the usual podium, with a half-hearted tower at the corner where Tyler Street and Federal Highway meet Young Circle. It does not set any standard.
And those standards are all-important.
Downtown Hollywood could fulfill the vision of Young, or it could end up looking just like another suburban office park. The first step is to stop the Great Southern project cold and determine to preserve the city's tiny historic core; without it, there's no identity. The second step is to exact high standards of design for every new building that will line the rest of the circle, making sure that each one contributes rather than detracts.
Young's ''City Beautiful'' endured the tribulations of the decades, and today, it's still possible to see his dreams and ambitions in three dimensions, as a city. But now we're in a new boom, and far too little seems sacred any more, putting the ideals that created Hollywood, created Florida, at risk. Wouldn't it be a crime if it is this boom that leads to the real bust?
Which reminds me, I wonder if that Starbucks downstairs on the U.S.-1 side finally opened yet?
Must check that out in the next day or so when I see if all that junk on the northeast Circle opposite the Radius, south of the Papa John's, has been cleaned up after all these months of it festering and mocking eager visitors to the Arts Park.
11:45 p.m.
Just got back from spending four hours at the Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting.
They took a breath and a break at 11:30 after a long night and that was my cue to come home.
Am currently watching ABC News' Nightline's review of the Clinton-Obama debate, which I'll probably watch in its entirety some other time on C-SPAN, and will soon be rewinding my videotape that caught tonight's new episode of longtime TV favorite Criminal Minds., which I LOVE! http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/
Don't mind telling you, I was greatly concerned when it became clear that the wonderful Mandy Patinkin was leaving the show, but what better way to try to replace a great character on a show that requires great ensemble skills than getting a great and talented professional like Joe Mantegna, who makes everyone look better -just like Dan Marino and Michael Jordan.
See http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/ , http://www.mandypatinkin.net/cd.html and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001505/ )
Given those wonderful skills, the show's producers were genius casting his character as someone who'd previously been a 'lone wolf' while creating the BAU team at Quantico.
That's right -casting against type!
Some times, it really works!
Not that I don't still find myself singing or humming Patinkin's particular versions of great American standards, since I went thru two copies of his great eponymous album while living in D.C., often listening to it over and over -and over -while walking, running or biking along The National Mall on way over to Reagan National Airport or Arlington National Cemetery.
See http://www.mandypatinkin.net/cdmp.html
Will have more to say on Thursday about the HB City Commission meeting, including fireworks in afternoon session, and some other things, but these are the two main points I wanted to leave you with until manana:
1.) For the presentation on the Oasis project on the 11oo block of East Hallandale Beach Blvd., Joseph Geller filled-in and took over first-chair for brother Senator Steve Geller who was still up in Tallahassee.
2. The Oasis project passed the city commission's first reading, along with an amendment by Comm. Keith London that would ensure that the project's flex units would revert back to the city if there were no progress on the ambitious project within 48 months of pulling the first permit for phase one, which will be the five-story retail and commercial office development along HBB -153,000 square feet- and the four-story garage behind it.
The 27-story residential building, which would border a future and absolutely necessary S.E. 2nd Street, will be the second phase.
This particular amendment is the city learning the painful lessons of The European Club on HBB and Three Islands, which failed colossally and is still an empty and ugly area eyesore after all this time.
Judging things by a PowerPoint presentation, of course, is no way to judge anything so large.
What I saw actually looked pretty good, but...
That particular lesson was learned the hard way by current and former members of the Hollywood City Commission -Comm. Richard Blattner?- who lamented out loud two weeks ago tonight, when comparing how great Radius looked on Young Circle -on paper and against the city commission wall- and the sad current reality, where it creates a canyon effect, albeit a curved canyon. See http://www.radiuscondo.com/ and
http://localism.com/article/186587/Desperately-seeking-a-Seller-Radius-Condo
Well, it's not like there weren't critics of Radius, witness the very last breaths of Beth Dunlop's impassioned 2004 column in the Herald, "Razing of history may bust Hollywood's boom" which pondered whether the City of Hollywood would be as wise and prescient as the hard-working man who had founded the city decades ago, Joseph Young.
The excerpt below comes from the smart, savvy and civic-minded folks at Balance Sheet Online, a Hallandale Beach Blog linked fave since Blog Day One.
http://www.balancesheetonline.com/bdunlop.htm
CAMPED OUT
When Radius opened its sales office, potential buyers camped out overnight to be first in line -- reminiscent of old photos of the 1920s land boom. Radius has great slogans -- ''Once you've gone round, you'll never be square again'' and ''Don't be square. Live the circle.'' -- but perfectly unexceptional architecture, blocky buildings on the usual podium, with a half-hearted tower at the corner where Tyler Street and Federal Highway meet Young Circle. It does not set any standard.
And those standards are all-important.
Downtown Hollywood could fulfill the vision of Young, or it could end up looking just like another suburban office park. The first step is to stop the Great Southern project cold and determine to preserve the city's tiny historic core; without it, there's no identity. The second step is to exact high standards of design for every new building that will line the rest of the circle, making sure that each one contributes rather than detracts.
Young's ''City Beautiful'' endured the tribulations of the decades, and today, it's still possible to see his dreams and ambitions in three dimensions, as a city. But now we're in a new boom, and far too little seems sacred any more, putting the ideals that created Hollywood, created Florida, at risk. Wouldn't it be a crime if it is this boom that leads to the real bust?
Which reminds me, I wonder if that Starbucks downstairs on the U.S.-1 side finally opened yet?
Must check that out in the next day or so when I see if all that junk on the northeast Circle opposite the Radius, south of the Papa John's, has been cleaned up after all these months of it festering and mocking eager visitors to the Arts Park.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)