Sarasota welcomes Harvard!
I just have to pass along this article from the Harvard University’s The Harvard Crimson … it’s just a nice reflection on Sarasota and a testament to the hard work the community is doing to create a world-class rowing environment here.
Florida Hospitable to Harvard Rowing
By Christina C. Mcclintock, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Picture this: the top crews in the world flying through the last 500 meters of the world championships, when an underdog takes control of the race. The spectators—wearing shorts and t-shirts, because it’s Florida—gaze in amazement with one thought going through their heads: “Are you serious?”
That line, of course, delivered by Dick Vitale, who is not only a legendary announcer, but also a Sarasota, Fla. resident. (more…)
Legal eagle Adam Tebrugge opens doors at new law office
Local attorney Adam Tebrugge, who ran for the Public Defender’s office in 2008, opened the doors last week to the new offices of Tebrugge Legal.
Adam and his wife Regina.
Tebrugge specializes in criminal law … so, oddly, I hope I never need his services!
Listen up! Florida Veterans on Rob Lorei’s radio show this morning (WMNF)
Florida Veterans for Common Sense President, Gene Jones, and board member, Dennis Plews, 
will be on the Rob Lorei radio show (WMNF 88.5 FM) this morning, January 24, 2011 at 10:05 AM.
The discussion will be about obtaining Veterans Diversion Courts in Florida, and the group’s Resolution to Withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’s a call in program as well — so I believe you can ask questions or make comments on air by calling 813.239.9663 or perhaps by emailing to dj@wmnf.org.
These feet were made for walking …
courtesy of Sarasota YMCA website
I did have to quit just on the final leg of the return part, so my friends went on to finish without me and I headed back to my car. But all in all I walked nearly an hour!
A friend of mine won a competition to design the tee-shirts for the run — she did a great job, but unfortunately, I don’t have a pic.
Beyond gun control
My column in today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune talks about the recent spate of gun violence in Sarasota and Manatee counties and discusses MLK’s idea of the “violence of spirit” that is really behind physical violence.
You can read it in today’s TICKET — in today’s newspaper or tomorrow for FREE in the old Creative Loafing newsstand boxes found throughout the city.
Or, you can read it online here — Tackling Internal Violence.
This cougar prefers panthers …
Well, the title is a bit misleading for two reasons: I’m a cougar in age only (any female over 35 and not dead yet)
MC's one and only cougar-ish pose.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a gorgeous male … Click on this link to see my kind of guy … looking and walking … like a king.
Facing foreclosure — Stan Zimmerman’s two-part series
If you haven’t read Stan Zimmerman’s two-part series on foreclosure in the Pelican Press newspaper — you should. I know the second part is out on stands right now … or you can read it online here at Foreclosures: crisis of decades
Zimmerman interviewed many people for the story on deep background and wrote, “We are in a collision between Great Depression-era law and ultra-modern finance.”
It’s detailed and insightful reporting … and necessary reading even if you’re not directly affected by the foreclosure crisis — you are most definitely indirectly affected. You can read the first part of the series here:
Foreclosure not the end of pain.
Zimmerman, who’s collected plenty of press awards over the years, should nab another for this series.
It’s so well-written but a bit hard to read without feeling overwhelmed at how to work through this challenge that is displacing and up-ending the lives of tens of thousands of families and individuals just in Sarasota County.
I’m a hah-ah-ah-ahnkytonk woman … gimme, gimmee, gimmee a honkeytonk man!
I loved and hated Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction — loved the acting, loved the Dali-esque mania, loved the script and dialogue … the pulpy violence — not so much. But still, I have a soft place in my heart for people and performances that walk the edge of weird wit and wacky whimsy.
So, in that case, I want everyone to not miss Fred Eaglesmith and the Ginn Sisters at Ace’s in Bradenton on Saturday night — Jan 15. 
Yes, it’s out of the way, and that’s what makes it so good. Just appoint a DD and you’re all set.
Recently appearing on the David Letterman show (and I saw them in person last year), Eaglesmith hypnotizes with his gravelly-voiced storytelling of freight trains, firearms, and fickle women (though I find his lyrics just this side of misogynistic and a bit too ready to “get a gun” — he’s still got a way with words and singing) and the Ginn Sisters back him up with sexy, whimsical, rock-solid vocals, and even perform their own songs – with clever lyrics and just enough shimmying. They’re just kind of a goofy sexy and isn’t that the best kind of sexy?
Aces is the perfect old-fashioned honky tonk – unpretentious bar food, cheap drinks; and the best live music in these parts. If you go, tell ’em MC sent you!
$20 advance; $25 at the door; 4343 Palma Sola Blvd. (behind the 7-11 at Cortez Rd., and 86 St. W.); 795.3886 for tix and more info.
Making Paid Parking Palatable … if that’s even possible!
My Sense and the City column this week is all about the paid parking — using meters downtown — situation in Sarasota.
“I get that the city needs money and is hurting financially. But here’s a news flash: so are the rest of us.”
You can read the column on page 7 of today’s TICKET (available for FREE at newstands throughout the city where the old Creative Loafing boxes are) or read it online at Making Paid Parking Palatable.
Obama in Tucson
I felt immeasurably sad tonight thinking of the people in Tucson who died or who were shot or who have been left without loved ones. I felt sad for our country.
I felt amazed — really just struck — to hear stories of how two husbands put themselves in front of their wives to take the bullets themselves. That kind of heroism, selflessness, thinking of their wives — not thinking really, just acting — in the quickest most honest way to protect someone they love. That’s astonishing, but when I think about it — it seems like most men would probably do that. That’s just amazing. And the other people, too, the ones who tackled or kicked away ammunition or helped those who’d been hit.
I was moved and strengthened by President Obama’s speech tonight and hope I will take his admonishments to heart. If you didn’t hear his speech you can hear it or read it by clicking here: Obama in Tucson.
I really appreciated his portraits of the people who were killed and these words are what have stayed with me and what I hope will continue to stay with me as an American, as a woman:
“The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other’s ideas without questioning each other’s love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.”
