She hated me so hard

Illo for story about what to get teens for Christmas. Top of the list of what teens DIDN’T WANT, was socks, so I took it a little bit further.

A reader didn’t get it.

'Noles vs. 'Canes

The FSU-UM rivalry isn't the big deal it used to be due to lack of star-power and top-25 visibility by either team. Illo for Sports section, Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Real Estate Owned

Illo for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Real Estate Owned is the term for bank-owned houses post-foreclosure.

Bad Luck of the Irish

Illustration for the sports section of the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Notre Dame's football team has been all but knocked out so far this season.

High Tech Heat

For a story about how game consoles, digital video recorders, cable boxes and other gadgets are generating higher amount of heat as manufacturers seeking more power cram them with more circuitry.

Fighting junk mail ...

using guerilla tactics!

Coming to America, again

My fellow Americans,
This past July 29th marked the 46th anniversary of leaving my homeland of Cuba and coming to America.

To commemorate this occassion, I did a dramatic re-enactment of my arrival upon these shores.

My re-enactment of my Florida Straits crossing involved paddling out several yards out on the ocean on my kayak, turning around, and making landfall somewhere off the coast of Melbourne Beach. However, this did not go without some unexpected circumstances.

The scorching heat and lack of drinking water were bearable and added a touch of the reality that less fortunate balseros have had to endure, but the jellyfish sting on my face created some difficulty upon the unexpected arrival of the Coast Guard.

As the Coast Guard vessel approached, eyeing me suspiciously, I attempted to tell them that I was not a balsero, but just doing a dramatic re-enactment of my arrival 46 years ago.

However, because of my swollen tongue, when I yelled "I am an American citizen!", they thought I said "Imma mewickan wibbiben," so they thought I was an illegal and they rammed and sunk my kayak.

Fortunately, I had my longboard attached to the kayak and was able to paddle in and catch a wave to freedom!

Enjoy the pictures taken by a sympathetic beachgoer.



Uh oh, here comes the Coast Guard!




You'll never catch me, suckas!




Wet foot!




Dry foot!




America, I kiss you!




Ahhh, freedom!

The Mood Issue

Cover of The Mood (of the newspaper industry) Issue for SND's Design magazine, Summer '07 issue.

Calle13@HardRock, Orlando 06/30/07

Calle 13 is a Puerto Rican hip hop and alternative-reggaeton duo formed by step-brothers who call themselves Residente (lead singer, writer) and Visitante (keyboards, vocals, writer, beat producer).

Although most people label Calle 13's music as reggaeton, they've tried to distance themselves from that particular style. And while some of their songs carry a reggaeton beat, they mix it with many other rhythms from various countries. Visitante, being a professional musician, tries to fuse each song with diverse styles. Their early songs featured elements like jazz, bossa nova and salsa, while recent songs feature cumbia, tango, electronica and others. In their recent tours around Latin America they've added different musical elements according to the place they're playing in.

Singer Residente is reluctant to label their music in a specific genre, instead calling it plain urban style. He has a clear preference of hip hop over traditional reggaeton.

Residente's lyrical style uses lots of Puerto Rican slang and allegories. He has developed a style full of sarcasm, parody and shock value. His distinctive lyrics are often wide and random, and his rhymes usually end in English or Spanglish, the rest of the lyrics usually in Spanish.

Check out my cellphone camera slideshow of their Hard Rock concert here.

Check out the band's Web site here.

When Captain America throws his mighty burrito

It happened in Melbourne, Florida. Read about Cap's latest misadventure here and here.

Calm in the Face of Danger

I'm an action hero!
See my movie.

SFG: Angels and Demons

Illustration for weekly challenge at sugarfrostedgoodness.com.
Watch her fly.

Obscure Moments in History: Einstein at the Battle of Midway

Albert Einstein, the German-born American physicist who developed the theories of relativity and mass-energy equivalence (E = mc2), is invited by the U.S. Navy to visit the USS Yorktown as it sails the Pacific Ocean. Einstein rides his bicycle on the deck of the carrier as the Japanese attack. Smoke pours from the Yorktown's stacks after being hit in the boilers by Japanese dive bombers at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942.
Einstein is quoted as saying: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." Especially when the Japanese are attacking.

Obscure Moments in History: Nuclear Tourism

The Bureau of Atomic Tourism was created in 1945 for the promotion of nuclear warfare development. In order to get support from the American public for what would become a devastating, destructive weapon, the bureau organized tours to bring spectators from the general population as close as possible to the testing site.

Trinity Site, located on the northern end of the 3,200-square-mile White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, was where the first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945. The 19-kiloton explosion not only led to a quick end to the war in the Pacific but also ushered the world into the atomic age.

Attending the first (and only) nuclear test open to the public was the Anderson family from the Midwest, shown in this photo.

“The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects were beyond description. The whole countryside was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun.”
— Jim Anderson’s eyewitness account of the Trinity Test.

Tribute to Salvador Dalí

Did I mention that Salvador Dalí is my all-time favorite artist? Take me somewhere nice, Mogwai.

Dalí selling chocolates, antacids and wine …


A Dalí/Disney collaboration from the '40s.
Poster and display promoting a Dalí exhibit in Copenhagen, September, 1999.

San Francisco signs

Repent. Be honest.

Love tore them apart

New Order, one of my favorite bands of the 80s and 90s, announced their breakup, May 9, 2007. Saw them twice in Miami, first time in 1985 and then with 5-month-pregnant wife in 1989. Hooky's bass lines really kept the fetus active that night. A few months later, newborn daughter responded when I played the Substance CD. Here's New Order in their prime, with "The Perfect Kiss."

Mono at The Social, Orlando, May 7, 2007

Mono is an amazing band from Japan.

Mono's style sticks to the formula used by other post-rock bands such as Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. This method involes a fairly long crescendo which builds up to a powerful climax in the middle, which in turn is followed by more subdued melodies that finish off the song. Though this style is employed by many post-rock bands, Mono's sound is considered by many to be unique. Their sound is dramatic and melancholy. Mono is known for their powerful live performances. Part of their power in concert comes from their intense physical involvement in the music. It should also be noted that their shows are extremey loud, even to well-seasoned show goers.

See my front-row photos from the show while you check out MONO on Myspace. Listen to Mono while watching the slideshow. Enjoy!

Mono Live/Interview






World's End Girlfriend was the opening act.

A day in Malmö, Sweden

Took the passenger ferry from Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden for the day.
Malmö is called the city of parks, but I'd rather call it the city of sculptures. There are lots of great artworks scattered around the city waiting to be appreciated.


The Kooks. Too much is not enough.


Amusing marching band statues in Malmö.

Hmmm … Interesting statue in Malmö. Look closely at what it is carrying.


Outside. Not inside.


Six-foot tall sunflowers.

Gun control, Swedish-style.


If you think the cranes in the background are big, you should have seen the one used to build the big white structure in the middle. (Those are 7-story buildings on the left.)


Buildings.


Windmill.


I guess Dolly Parton was performing at klubb Kinky in Malmö!

Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 1999

Christiania is Copenhagen's "free town," where approximately 1,000 squatters, hippies, and self-proclaimed deadbeats live in the old abandoned Christianshavn army barracks they occupied in 1971, declaring themselves independent of the Danish state around them.

The community is known for its bikes and until 2004, for its open-air drug market known as Pusher Street.

Here's the full-length classic 1991 film about the history and life of the Freetown Christiania in the heart of Copenhagen during its first 20 years.

But Christiania may not have long to live.


Military barracks at Christiania.


Mural on a building near the entrance to Christiania.


Respect Christiania's love.

Posters from Denmark

Nyd lørdagen
Poster advertising the Politiken newspaper, Denmark.


Poster for latest CD from Danish Singer Caecilie Norby.


Danger is a haunted lollipop. That's what I always thought!


Kinky Copenhagen


Information is good.

Copenhagen sights

The Little Mermaid statue was a present from brewer Carl Jacobsen (The Carlsberg Breweries) to the city of Copenhagen, and was made by sculptor Edvard Erichsen. The Little Mermaid was unveiled at Langelinje in 1913, as part of a general trend in Copenhagen in those days, requiring classical and historic figures to be used as decorations in the city's parks and public areas.
Copenhagen's Little Mermaid symbolizes the fairy tale by Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen, the story of a mermaid who fell in love with a prince from land, and often came up to the edge of the water to look for her love. The sculpture pictures her as she sits and looks out over the water, after never actually having married the prince, and reminiscing over her lost childhood in the sea, as a mermaid.


Nyhavn, the recreational center of Copenhagen, is part of the original Copenhagen Harbor all the way back to the founding of Haven, as Copenhagen was then called, in the 12th century.


Ship's figurehead on balcony of apartment building in Nyhavn.

Magic button

I came across a Website that had this button. I clicked it. How did they know where I came from?

Farting around Denmark

In Danish, fart means speed.