I was talking about rare photos from years gone by and this one image has really flabbergasted me all week. The Highline in New York tweeted it out, as part of a feature that was in Curbed New York. It's literally a steam engine in the 1920s, going up 11th Avenue, under where the Highline is today.
It's just hard to imagine this, a huge locomotive coming up the avenue, with a horse and carriage to the side and a vintage (new at the time) car to the left. I love this photo. This 1929 image is described on Curbed New York like this:
"Before the West Side Improvement Project created the High Line, trains ran down Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. Here a New York Central Freight Train heads south on Eleventh. A flagman, or West Side Cowboy, should be preceding the train, but in this shot is out of the frame. The train is passing the George Kern building [near 41st Street]. Kern was a packing, wholesale, and retail distributor of pork and beef products, which was bought by Adolf Gobel, Inc., in 1927 for $10 million."
So there's this new craze in New York called Cronuts, according to what I've read, they are "party flaky croissant and part cream-filled doughnut. Apparently they are hard to get or maybe they are trademarked or pattented or something because only one place in SoHo is selling them and people are literally buying them and then scalping them. There are lines down the block, people look as if they are waiting for Bieber concert tickets. And now there is even a delivery service for Cronuts in New York.
This sort of reminds me of when the Dove Bar first came out in the 1980s. You could only get them from kiosks on street corners in New York and they came with a little cardboard thing at the bottom of the bar to keep the ice cream from dripping onto your hand. Now of course you can get Dove Bars anywhere, without the little cardboard thing of course. This reminds me of the article where I was lamenting the lack of photos from the 1980s. I can't find a photo of the Dove Bar with the cardboard thingie. If we had smart phones back then, there would have been so many images.
Well, you don't have to go to SoHo to get a Cronut, as The Bookstore in the Grove now makes them right on site. I tried one Saturday and went back Sunday to get some to bring to our Father's Day BBQ. I had asked if an angioplasty came with them. They're very rich. I watched as they made them and then tasted them hot, right out of the oven. Felice at the Bookstore tells me that they bake them, where the originals in New York are fried. The Cronuts are $2.50 each.
I had one of those freaky ESP sort of moments that I am famous for regarding the Cronuts. I went to Walgreens after I had the Cronuts at the Bookstore and as I'm checking out, the cashier was asking me to sign up for the Walgreens card. He said, and I quote, "You get lots of points with the card. Think of all the donuts that will get you!!"
Freaky!
A recent study puts Miami as number 60 on the list of Metro areas with the highest artist populations.
Towns in Montana and Iowa came out ahead of Miami.
It's hard to believe with our large emerging art scent, which started on Lincoln Road in the late 1980s and moved to Wynwood. We also have Art Basel and so many other art events. We always joke about having so many gallery walks at different times of the month. It seems like each community has one. But I guess the artists aren't residing here and so many of the galleries feature art from outside the area, there aren't many venues for local artists.
Coconut Grove was of course, Miami's original art destination, when art wasn't "forced" and it just sort of was organic. Maybe this is a wake up call to local galleries to actually help nurture and support our local artists. But then again, if we don't have artists living here, there isn't their art to support. Vicious circle. Which came first the artists or the galleries supporting them?
This photo is one of my favorites, taken at this year's Gifford Lane Art Stroll in Coconut Grove this past March.
I'm sure Octavius Veargis is quite proud of himself today as his newly formed, One Grove Foundation hosted a very successful Coconut Grove Fun Day yesterday at Esther M. Armbrister Park, in Village West. This is Octavius with his proud mother Dora Dukes, right and M. Peggy Quatro, left. You may recognize Dora and Peggy from CocoWalk.
Hundreds of people came out in the name of Frederick Gibson, whose senseless death brought the rallying cry of, "No more violence," from the crowd. Frederick's parents and family received a plaque in his honor and a local minister prayed with the crowd from the stage.
Frederick's mother, Sheena, told how he loved Coconut Grove, he was born here and lived here his whole short life. Frederick's family took to the stage to thank the crowd.
There were a lot of games and happy things, too, during the afternoon. Free food was handed out and a couple of kick ball games too place along with other things like an egg race, horse shoes, hula hoop and more. I was very impressed with the turn out and the attitude and friendliness of the neighbors.
The Fun Day will be the first of several planned monthly outreach events which are focused on bringing together the community to work on beautification projects, mentorship programs and safe, family oriented activities. Armbrister Park is a big, beautiful park that doesn't get enough use. Hopefully it will now.
The burgers and hot dogs were handed out in brown bags, along with chips and as you took your bag, you were handed water, juice or soda. Very organized and hundreds of people were served within minutes.
A friend who was with me said it best when she said, "This is what the Grove has always been about -- community." I'm sure Frederick was smiling down on everyone.
The GroveHouse Artists, which used to be here, but now are mainly at large, are having their Annual Exhibit at the Deering Estate, on Wednesday, June 19 from 7 to 9 pm. This event is free and open to the public, there are complimentary snacks and a cash bar.
The exhibit is featuring the winning works from the recentl Affair en Plein Air Event which Lucas Blanco jurored.
Artists include Jessie Chao, Perri Cox, Raul Fernandez, Pauline Goldsmith, Ana Llurado, Humberto Mijares, Paul St. Laurent, Claudia Moriarity, Linda Oldenburg, Sushila Oliphant, Solangel Rodriguez, Vivien Romoff, Liionel Sanchez, Audrey Scott, Marilou Solares, Barbara Tejada and Jeanine Watkin.
The exhibit will be on display until July 26. Admission is free daily with Deering Estate admission from 10 am to 4 pm.
The Deering Estate is located at 16701 SW 72 Avenue, for info: 305-235-1668, ext. 233.
I'm working on getting the BID some photos of Coconut Grove from the 1980s and '90s, but you know what, it's not easy! Natali who runs the marketing there was asking how no one seems to have photos of the Village, but when you think about it, until recently, we really didn't take pictures of everything, now we take photos of every meal and Facebook it or Instagram it, but in years past, most of us just took photos at family events and such, we didn't carry cameras around our necks all day.
I don't have many photos of myself from the 1980s because I had this stupid thing in my head that when I die, I wanted my photos to be rare. I know, stupid. Now I regret it. I don't know where I got the idea from, I think Abraham Lincoln or something, you know, like he or other famous people died from 150 years ago, or even 100 years ago, and there is only one or two photos of them, so I thought that is what I would do. Now, of course, I take selfies all day long.
So in the 1980s, whenever someone would pull a camera out at a family event or whatever, I would casually walk away or offer to take the photo. Dumb.
The big thing on social media these days is Hillary Clinton joining Twitter a couple of days ago. Loved this Tweet yesterday where she says she and Chelsea took "selfies." Here's one of the selfies below, which was tweeted out.
Now in its 17th year, the Strike Against Child Abuse Bowling Tournament will bring together friends, family and colleagues for a little friendly competition on the lanes on Saturday, June 15 at Bird Bowl.
All ages and skill levels are welcome at this afternoon event, starting at 12:30 pm. Proceeds benefit Family Resource Center of South Florida, a charity. since 1978, that cares for local kids who have suffered child abuse and neglect.
Top three highest scoring bowling teams will go home with trophies, but everyone is sure to have a great time! Tickets are $350 per lane which includes three games of bowling, shoe rental and lunch for up to four bowlers.
Bird Bowl is located at 9275 S.W. 40 Street, Miami, for info: 305-960-5536 (Dorit Matthews). To sign up, please go here. There's a "register your team" button on the bottom of that page.
