UFood Grill– Food U Might Like

I’m not a big stock market person, but over the past several months I’ve been buying some stock — not a ton, but just enough to make life interesting — in a penny stock called UFood.

UFood Grill (www.ufoodgrill.com) is a burgeoning restaurant chain based in Boston. This new restaurant brand was founded by the same guy, CEO George Naddaff who helped ignite the Boston Market franchise.

It’s a healthy fast-food choice — burgers, fries, sirloin, wraps, paninis. But everything’s baked, steamed or grilled — no frying! You can watch a video about the company and its food approach — just click here: I’m a UFood Fan!

Anyway, I’m having fun seeing what happens with the company. I don’t often have hunches about stocks, but have had two hunches in the past. One was just before Krispy Kreme went public and one was back in the earlier days of Chipotle — when the stock was still in the low 50s and affordable and long before it split and made a lot of people a lot of money.

Only wish I’d been one of them. Those were two times I didn’t follow my hunches and so now I have this third hunch and hey, we’ll see what happens.

If you’re interested in the stock, or just want to tell me how wrong I am — watch the video and/or leave me a comment. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to the day there’s a UFood Grill near me!

The Culture of Cheating

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune ran an op/ed of mine — on the topic of Herman Cain, cheating, and what difference it makes if a liar and a cheater holds office — in today’s newspaper — you can find it on the last page of the A section in print — or just click on the link below to read.

You’re lyin’ cheatin’ ways …. or as I like to call it, Cain’s Complaint (for all you Philip Roth lovers out there).

Breaking the silence on domestic violence … thanks to readers

Thanks — merci mille fois – grazie – danke, to every one who posted such supportive comments and shared their own stories in response to my recent op/ed piece in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (to read it online just click here). I’ve heard from so many women — and several men, too — either on this blog, in direct emails, phone calls, comments in person, and in letters written to the editor of the newspaper. Thank you all for taking the time to contact me.

To read some of the comments readers have shared, click on this link here .

Unspoken truths … articulated by Christopher Hitchens

If you haven’t yet read Christopher Hitchens’ June essay in Vanity Fair … I can’t urge you enough to do so. I’ve been reading Hitch since I was just past knee-high to a grasshopper (give or take a few years) and his writing — his thinking — and most importantly, his feeling — are all more acutely drawn because of his personal situation.

You can read “Unspoken Truths” by clicking here. It’s a fabulous piece of writing, but far more than just that.

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
—T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

Pelican Press Stan “the Man” Zimmerman Ousted by Observer Group

As most of you know, the Observer Group (of the Sarasota, Longboat, East County Observers) purchased the much-loved island-and-beyond Pelican Press newspaper a couple of weeks back. Word on the street was that axes would soon be swinging … and at least one has already swung.

Highly respected and gazillion-award-winning shoe-leather newspaperman Stan Zimmerman was let go by the Observer Group on Thursday of last week.

Zimmerman had just nabbed a 2010 second-place award from the Florida Press Association for his investigative reporting on the FBI’s investigation into former Sarasota County School District employees involved in the purchase of classroom ActivBoards. He collaborated on that piece with another former Pelican reporter William Mansell.

Zimmerman holds an MA in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University, Washington, DC, and is the author of “A History of Smuggling in Florida;” The History Press, 2006. The guy is widely known and respected for his straight reporting and pull-no-punches news-gathering. I know I’m not the only one in Sarasota who will sorely miss seeing his columns and articles in print.

But … good news: Stan let me know that he’s “moving his pen” over to SarasotaPatch.com, where I believe he’ll continue to cover Sarasota County people, government, shenanigans, places, hoopla, and news of import. In fact, I notice he’s got a story up there today — check it out by clicking this link http://sarasota.patch.com/government, and I notice you can do an RSS subscribe to his county coverage so you can count on continuing to receive his excellent reporting.

Good luck, Stan!

Parking meter parody song from 107.9 Sarasota — too funny

Click on the link below to listen to local radio 107.9 WSRZ’s send up on the parking meter situation in Sarasota a la Lady Gaga

Parking Meter Send Up — compliments of WSRZ — just click on the unbagged meter on the page when it opens.

(photos above courtesy of www.morningcrewshow.com.

Thems fightin’ words! …. MC’s counterpoint to Grimes Chutney review

David Grimes is a funny guy — I read him in the Sarasota Herald Tribune every week, but when he recently gave a less than glowing review of my favorite restaurant haunt — Chutney’s on Hillview … my inner grrrrrrlllllll game out.

You can read my counterpoint to the Grimes review in today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune TICKET page 33E, or online by clicking here: Chutney’s Imperfect Perfection.

Sarasota parking meters suspended!

Yowza — parking meters suspended by Sarasota City Commissioners — read the Herald-Trib story here.

Holy smokes! They’ve caught Whitey Bulger!!

FBI Nabs Whitey Bulger!!!

I used to hang around the North End of Boston before it got all prettied up and gentrified and yuppified and before the Big Dig and all the “walkable” improvements connecting the NO to the rest of Beantown.

I remember walking under I-93 which goes straight through Boston, through little-used (at the time) tunnel reeking of urine and a bit intimidating with homeless people lining the walls — all just to get to the North End.

I’d go there and hang out at the old caffes where men played chess and you could smoke ’til your lungs gave out. I met more than one made man there back in the days. And though I kept my distance, they were often very protective of me. I was always alone at the caffes, sitting in there all day long, reading, writing, smoking (yes, back then I smoked!), and drinking coffee after coffee. Sometimes they’d let me play chess with them. And often, if a man bothered me or was hitting on me (yes, this did happen to me … back in the day!!), they’d intervene.

Often the serious players in the crime world would come in and just go straight back to the doors that led to a basement meeting place. It wasn’t glamorous; they weren’t sexy (well, one was, but that’s another story), and I knew they were ruthless, bad — for the most part — guys. Not goodfellas by a long shot. But they were always decent to me. Go figure.

Of course, the North End wasn’t exactly Whitey’s hangout. He was a South Boston thug of mythic — and monstrous — proportion. I’m so glad they caught him.

Reasons to avoid downtown Sarasota!

So, I was asked to go out the other night for dinner — to celebrate some good news I received earlier this week and my date asked me where I wanted to go. It was a toss-up for both of us between Caraguilo’s Restaurant on Palm Avenue (a favorite of mine for years) or another place not situated in downtown. It took less than a nanosecond for us to both say the name of the non-downtown restaurant — no cost for parking! It wasn’t a drawn-out decision, no big debate — just a no-brainer.

It’s not just paying for parking. Here are the two things that put the nail in the coffin for me as far as downtown goes:

“Those who choose downtown’s sidewalks and parks for their front yards deserve the same consideration as a gated community,” said Peter Fanning, president of the Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association. “We should be able to walk unmolested by catcalls, panhandling and unwanted approach.” Yup, you read it right. The downtown residents should have the experience of living in a gated community — hmmmm …. at taxpayer’s expense, I guess. We can pay for the parks and the pretty twinkling lights …. just don’t go downtown to enjoy them if you don’t live there! Source: SRQ Daily 6/8

Then I picked up the Pelican Press and read an article about how the Downtown Improvement District just decided to support the City Commission’s removal of the park benches at the Five Points park.

I absolutely won’t shop or eat downtown now as much as I can avoid it — which will be pretty much always. The meters were bad enough, but now to know that the folk who are supposed to be in charge of improving our downtown for all of us to enjoy are actually supporting this crazy bit of bench business — it’s too much. There are too many other places to go in Sarasota County.

I’d LOVE to hear how anyone else is experiencing the new meters, the park bench removal — wherever you fall on the issues, pro or con or somewhere in the middle — I invite you to post your comments here.