Behind The Cornea is merged with the SteveMiami blog

HEY EVERYBODY THE BLOG MOVED OVER
     ...... HERE

If you're looking around for a missing blog post, check http://stevemiami.blogspot.com, the posts on BEHIND THE CORNEA have been moved over to the SteveMiami blog. 

North Miami Beach in the 1970s

Recently a friend's status update on Facebook gave me the idea to start a new group, "Growing up in North Miami Beach in the 1970s," and it became an instant hit. Hundreds of "kids" from NMB in the 1970s jumped in with their memories of restaurants, record shops, various stores and parks. Dozens of names I haven't heard in decades suddenly streamed across my computer.

Do You Remember...

• Greynolds Park
• Skipper Chuck
• Skylake Mall
• Sandy's Drugs
• Pirates World In Dania
• on West Dixie Highway
• 163rd Street Mall
• Vibrations Records and Tapes
• Victory Park Pool
• Uleta Pool

If you grew up in North Miami Beach the 1970s or are curious about "the way it was", check out the Growing up in North Miami Beach in the 1970s Facebook group. And if we knew each other, add me as a friend (just send a note with the friend invite just in case I can't place the face).

Empire State Building - Purple Green and Gold for Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras 2009

Since January I've received two dozen inquiries about my campaign to color the Empire State Building in Purple, Green and Gold. I usually pitch the folks who manage lighting the ESB and emphasize that it's a

nod to the survivors and lives we lost when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. A silent acknowledgment that "we remember" and understand rebuilding is a slow, painful process.

Since we sucessfully pitched the ESB folks in 2006, requests [via forms, faxes, email, and voice mail] for the past two years to repeat the purple-green-gold lighting tribute led to a dead-end. I assume that the group who manages the ESB lighting is overwhelmed with daily requests and probably feels that New Orleans and the Gulf Coast had their acknowledgment in 2006 and Hurricane Katrina is just a memory.

The Meaning of Purple, Green, and Gold
In 1872 Rex chose PG&G as the official colors of Mardi Gras:
Purple = Justice
Green = Faith
Gold = Power

I'd like to see cities, large and small, who don't normally celebrate Fat Tuesday, take Purple Green and Gold, and in their own creative way decorate structures to send the "We Care!" message. Fat Tuesday is February 24, 2009: Lets use Social Networking (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc) to spread the word. Reach out to the leaders in your home town.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales

Here comes another Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) and if you're not in line at 3am on the day after Thanksgiving for that 4am sale, you just aren't a serious shopper.

Actually you can avoid those lines at the malls, the frantic shoppers, and shop online in the comfort of your fuzzy bathrobe. Amazon has a slew of Black Friday sales planned. Take a sneak peak at the Black Friday section www.tinyurl.com/black-friday-sales and come back early Friday morning for some low-stress shopping.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving

The Bamboo Room in Lake Worth Florida is Closing

Sad news. Another Live Music Venue in South Florida is closing.

taken from The Bamboo Room's website:

Tue. 05.13.2008
Bamboo Room Will Go Dark, For Now -- Club Closing May 31

There’s an old adage that the bar business is recession-proof, but Bamboo Room is first and foremost a live music venue and we are not immune. Rising fuel costs make it increasingly difficult for national touring acts to include South Florida in their routing plans. Coupled with lower concert attendance during the summer, the truth is simple to understand -- particularly when heard directly from those sources.

We have thoughtfully reviewed recent economic issues that weigh on both performers and patrons. To compensate for the downturn, Bamboo Room recently adopted an abbreviated schedule for the first time in its nine-year history. Yet it soon became clear that it would be difficult to remain open through the summer. As a result we will close our doors May 31. A healthier economy will be key to operating during the winter season, much as was common in Florida not so long ago.

The trust and honesty of our relationships with artists, patrons and the media will remain firm... as has been our commitment to excellence in live music presentation. Our dedicated, excellent and valued staff will be kept apprised of future plans. We remain optimistic that the cultural and economic climate will improve.

The soul of Bamboo Room will continue to resonate with the sound of Roots, Blues and Americana.

Sincerely,

Russell Hibbard
Owner

The Bamboo Room had great site lines, a fantastic beer and whiskey selection and nobody could argue about the long list of lot of top talent they brought down to South Florida. And over the years even relaxed their uptight rules, a tad :)

Empire State Building in Mardi Gras Colors for 2007

UPDATE on The Empire State in Mardi Gras colors...

We're talking with the Empire State Building (ESB) management to go Purple-Green-Gold again on Fat Tuesday! (working on making it an ANNUAL event too). It made national news last year :)

New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast is still rebuilding and we suggest as
another symbolic gesture to light the ESB on February 20, 2007 in
Purple-Green-Gold.

We filled out the forms and have gone back and forth with emails to justify a purple/green/gold theme on Fat Tuesday.

ESB wants to know what promotional material we have, what sort of media outreach we've got planned, etc. I'm not sure but it sounds like a large budget is needed. Maybe St. Patrick can spare some resources from his March 17th publicity ESB in green campaign. ;)

ESB Wrote:
"Last year we received media attention for the special lights, mostly due to it
being the first Mardi Gras since Katrina.
Do you have samples of promotional
materials? What media outreach will be undertaken? What connections do you have
with New Orleans?"

If you've got a sec, tell the esb you'd like to see purple-green-gold on Fat Tuesday too. :)

I've got a buddy who is going to shoot some video of the Empire State Building in Mardi Gras Colors, check back on 2/20 to see if we get the green light from ESB lighting mgt (pun intended)

Empire State Building in Purple Green and Gold

We Did It!

It was a spur of the moment thing, Daphne and I were talking about Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday last Sunday and thought about how the Empire State Building does theme colors, how it would be a nice gesture for displaced New Orleanians to show Mardi Gras colors on Tuesday.

A little research showed Feb 28th was the ESB 'default color' (white), so I wrote an email to the building management and suggested Purple Green and Gold, (my note and the reply is below). Evidently the building management receives a ton of lighting requests throughout the year for color themes but somehow our last minute request captured their attention.

It ain't Fat Tuesday everywhere... Evidently the further away your radius is from Louisiana, the more it is "just Tuesday". A lady came up to us while we snapped photos and said, "isn't it beautiful? I never get tired of it." She had no idea was Fat Tuesday was or what it ment, but thought it was pretty cool that we had the ESB lit it up for Katrina refugees in the New York metro area.

--we wrote to ESB: Fat Tuesday is February 28 and as a gesture to those from Louisiana, lighting the Empire State Building "PURPLE, GREEN and GOLD" would mean a lot to us refugees who are in the New York area. *Purple represents Justice; Green represents Faith; Gold represents Power.

--ESB replied: Excellent idea, we are doing the lights tonight!

Hey we fought the cold and went to 34th Street, took some close-ups too...