Camp Jeep. South Florida Auto Show.

I’ve always thought there were two kinds of people: those who own a Jeep and those who want to own one.

The 41st South Florida International Auto Show is still in full swing at The Miami Beach Convention Center and runs through November 6th. Sure there is all the bling you’d ever want to see. I was in a $153,000 Mercedes S-63. It was perfect. If you’re Diddy.

It was the first time I saw the newly redesigned 2012 VW Beetle in the flesh. Yeah, I could do that. My first one was a ’73 in baby blue. You never forget your first love…

Always great to stroll down Memory Lane. Although below is not exactly how I remember it.

There was the “green corner” which was real nice to see. But this year I didn’t even need to step foot inside. Camp Jeep was set up outside. Wild demos.  Check it out.

You can take the Jeep from the man, but you can’t take the man from the Jeep. Ugh, I want my Jeeps back.

~Mike

63 degrees and pumpkiny

We’re there people!

After the monsoon rains and a desperate attempt by the Beber Silverstein advertising agency to locate the sun, fall weather is here, the sun has been located and pumpkins have arrived!

Drive by the Boys and Girls Club of Miami-Dade  at 2805 Southwest 32nd Avenue (Dixie Highway) and there’s pumpkins as far as the eye can see.

Twenty percent of the proceeds goes to the the Boys and Girls Club of Miami-Dade. The tent is donated, the workers are volunteers so it’s a great place to scoop one up. I’d go sooner than later because if you miss this one…

Have a great pumpkin season everyone!

~Mike

What basketball lockout?

As I see it basketball is alive and well.

Drive by any schoolyard, park, rec center or telephone pole with a cut out milk crate as a hoop and you’ll see that it’s game on.

Last Saturday the 11 y/o and under Florida Fire took a grueling and productive 2 1/2 hour workout an an undisclosed location (pics at bottom). And Friday night at Virrick Park in Coconut Grove, FL, 22 players in the 5th and 7th grade brackets lit up the gym at tryouts for the elite Miami City Ballers AAU  team. The crowd went wild when a 7th grader jammed one, but not as loud as when his shot was rejected into the bleachers on the next play. I’m also happy to report that soon to be 10 year old Diego LaMonica had a great tryout.

There happened to be two ex Miami Heat players there, but they were hardly the focus. The focus was where it should have been.

Honestly, I haven’t done thorough homework on what might keep a 2011/12 basketball season from happening. From an economic standpoint, we need this lockout in South Florida just about as much as we need an atomic wedgie.  Without getting all Ben Bernanke on you, the potential fallout just can’t be good. Thousands of livelihoods of all types depend on pro hoops here, right down to the scalpers. And I want to take my son to see his Miami Heat play.

I hope they can figure this all out. But for now, I’m just one father with one kid who is constantly losing pieces of his uniform and not turning his socks right side out before he puts them in the hamper.

~Mike

October 6, 2011

Me and Lil Wayne-Chillin

I sometimes wonder if there could be such a thing as social media over-engagement.

At what point are there so many comments and so many reactions from so many people coming so fast and so many of them not relating to each other so there there is no real conversation thread and so many of them being shared and commented on based on one word?

It’s pretty mind-boggling for a blogger to think that 11,336 people took the time to comment and 162 took the time to essentially reblog it.

So I thought I’d pop up the same thing. Actually, I like what my friends wrote and I could have coaxed more out of the thread but wanted to compare apples to apples.

Thank you to  Jose Boza, Christina Flores Gomez-Pina, Jeanette Mantilla and Chuck Greenberg. And a big thanks to Scott Eddy for the idea for this post.

~Mike

Saturday in my little town

I didn’t catch his name but he played beautiful music.

He told me that he’s written 5 songs and this is one of them.

The South Miami Farmer’s Market was in full swing today. Face painters, story tellers, a bounce house for the kids. If you have two and a half minutes, take a look at what happened in my little town on this sunny day in South Florida.  I hope yours was just as good.

~Mike

A squirrel’s nest…where?

So after about 15 years of driving Jeeps, I de-Jeeped myself for a Prius.

I knew I’d miss my Jeep and being a card carrying member of the Jeep community, but I thought I’d do my part. While I may not lay down in front of Sequoias when the guys with chainsaws are coming, every little bit helps. Since the de-Jeeping, 3 of my friends have gone on to buy one. Which is cool but at least they could have picked a different color than mine. Oh well.

In the last year and a half, I’ve learned about a few of the downsides of Prius ownership. Like the time I was washing it and some guy comes biking by the house and yells, “Stop wasting water!” Or the lack of Prius comradery. Even though I may have complained about “The Jeep Wave,” I’m finding there’s no Prius love. At least driving down the streets of Miami. Where’s the Prius love people???

Anyway, the latest downside of Prius ownership is this: one of my buddies who since bought a Prius smelled something funny when he turned his a/c on so he took it in for service. Here’s his service record:

Yep squirrels were making themselves right at home and had made a nest in his Prius.

Personally I thought Toyota City should have comped him on this one as the car is only a year old, he parks it an a garage and maintains it well. But I bet he’ll get his money back when Toyota corporate contacts him to do a commercial on this. If he agrees to do it.

Don’t you think Toyota City should have done this for free? What’s your take on this?

~Mike

A few moments of silence

How do you hide your sadness from more than 110,000 people?

I may never trust a Twitter feed again.

As some of you may know, Trey Pennington took his own life earlier today. But where were the signs?

One tweet from yesterday said, “@alexanderlund Thank you. Are you in the UK? I’ll be there Thursday.”

Another said, “@jacoutofthebox Thanks Jackie. Things are great. Speaking schedule picks up big time this week through the end of the year. Yea!”

Here’s one that could have come from any of us: “@JamesAkersJr  Shoot. Sent that last tweet from the wrong account! Rushing to delete!”

And here is his final message via Twitter:

How could someone who seemed to be so social be hiding it so well in plain view of so many? How could he be so connected, so popular yet he couldn’t reach out to any of us in his greatest time of need? I never met Trey, but I followed him and he followed little old me back. It makes me think maybe we aren’t following each other closely enough.

My thoughts are with Trey, his family and the social media community. His close friend Jay Handler kept people informed on his Facebook page.

This is from his Trey’s Twitter Bio and I will leave you with this: Be the HERO! Conquer marketing clutter with story. Be heard. Be shared. I’ll help you discover, develop & deliver your amazing story.

~Mike

I will not be taking comments on this post that do not provide insight or information on suicide prevention or related resources. The number for the 24 hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK. Their website is http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Ten years later, can you still hear the beeping?

I do.

We all wondered what that sound was. It is the 95 decibel blare of a PASS device (Personal Alert Safety System).  It means that a firefighter has not moved in 30 seconds. And on that day, most never moved again.

9/11 PASS device

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Ten years later, can you remember what raced through your mind when the second plane hit the South Tower at 9:02:59 a.m.?

Ten years later, do you remember people holding hands and jumping, not wanting to take their last 10 second journey alone?

Ten years later, do you remember hearing about a third plane and then a fourth and wondering how many more there could be?

Ten years later, do you remember the sea of people walking around with pictures of their loved ones? Or the never-ending walls of posters?

In the ten years since, have you take inventory of your own loved ones who had passed away before 9/11 and gave thanks that they did not have to see that day? It may be strange, but I have.

Ten years later, we got Osama bin Laden. But on 9/11, they got my high school buddy.

Ten years later, what do remember about 9/11? And what will you never forget?