Tony the Tiger still languishes in a man-made prison

Folks, we’ve GOT to do something about Tony. (more…)

Show & Tell — give “don’t ask/don’t tell” the bum’s rush

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is such a dumbo, lowest-kind-of-thinking (or rather unthinking) policy, there are, literally, no depths to plumb on the issue.

I mean, I’m sure I don’t really have to say this … BUT if you’d let a gay guy save your life in the hospital emergency room (yes, gays perform surgery!) or if you’ll let a gay woman pilot that next flight to Detroit — taking your life in her very hands — then why would you stop at letting gays put their lives on the line for this country? And, anyway, WHO CARES WHAT CONSENTING ADULTS DO IN THE BEDROOM?! (more…)

Sarasota’s Cat Depot Saves Pennsylvania Kitties — You Can Help Too!

The local Cat Depot is helping save the lives of 12 Pennsylvania felines (read below for how you can help them too!) who were rescued last week in a raid on a Pennsylvania so-called “sanctuary” known as the Animal Friends of Elk and Cameron Counties. Some friends — the conditions at the I-can’t-even-use-the-word-sanctuary-SLUM were so deplorable, inhumane, and overcrowded that 387 cats — including numerous kittens — were removed by a team of more than 50 first-responders, aided by the American Humane Association and PetSmart Charities.

The Sarasota 12 — as I’m calling them now — after their traumatic (but welcome) rescue (more…)

There’s a rat in the kitchen, what I’m a gonna do?

This snake was relaxing atop some bushes, drinking in the drizzle of rain that was following.

Local Papers Need Proofers!

I sympathize with how hard it must be to put out a daily newspaper — heck, even a weekly. I try to do this blog every day and you see how well that goes — because there’s always a paying client I’ve got to tend to (which is lucky on one hand, hell, several hands, but leaves little time for fun stuff like blogging!).

But the local papers — and I know times are tough — are stinting on the areas where it matters most. Nearly every week someone mentions something in the Sarasota Herald Tribune — a misspelling, the wrong word used, etc. One week the paper referred to a women whose husband had passed away as a widower. Um, hello????? And they did it more than once in the same piece.

Now in today’s paper, this: (more…)

Free falling fireworks

I’ve been pretty lucky to see some pretty gorgeous fireworks from some pretty inspired places — at the Shell in Boston with about a million other people; gliding slowly on a bateau-mouche down the Seine during a July 4th American Embassy party in Paris; and my personal favorite was in Ashland, New Hampshire, a gazillion years ago with fireworks that I still haven’t forgotten — I think it was literally some sort of display that enacted a scene of two boats firing missiles at each other.

Last night I went to see some fireworks in Sarasota. And though they were pretty subdued … the end of the show was, as they always are, ahhhh-inspiring. (more…)

Socializing chez MC

Last night, I had a few people — men and women — over for food and drink and conversation. I’ve been so crazy-busy the past year, it seems as if I just never take the time to be social anymore, so last night was wayyyyyyyyyyy overdue. (more…)

Best blogger and braggin’ ’bout it!

What a great way to start a long weekend. Sarasota Magazine editor Pam Daniel let me know the wall plaque recognizing me as “Best Blogger 2010″ — according to the magazine’s Readers Poll earlier this year — was ready and waiting for me to pick it up at her office.

So I swung by, said hello, and swung back out again, plaque in hand and huge smile on my face.

Say I’m a big dork. Go ahead. But it made my day. Just something fun — and meaningful at the same time. It means a lot to me that Sarasota Magazine readers and readers of this blog voted for me in the blogging category. It means a lot that people enjoy the blog and cared enough to take the time to cast a vote.

Plus, it’s just plain fun!!!

Wishing everyone a super fabulous Fourth!

Local boys, hot babes, and fast boats — it’s Super Boat Grand Prix Time on the Suncoast!

The Sarasota Herald Tribune is running a piece I wrote on three father and son teams who are battling it out in the wave breaks off the beaches of Lido Key this weekend.

You can read it in today’s paper — in the TICKET, page 4E — or online at Boys and Their Boats.

I don’t have photos of one of the teams featured in the piece — the Bryants — but the photos on this blog post — all courtesy of www.superboat.com‘s team information webpage — gives you a look at the boats the boys (and their dads) will be driving.