Octavio Diaz

Two Months Off

2011-10-16T00:56:00.012-04:00

It's been a relaxing two months off. Now it's time to rejoin the workforce on Monday, in my new career in the field of international commerce. But I had some time to try out different lines of work and make some extra cash during my semi-retirement.

LAB RAT: I took part in a sleep study at the University of Florida on the effects of excessive use of social media on the brain. Facebooking all day, sleeping all night wired to electrodes. $50 per night, plus milk and cookies at bedtime.

PAINTER: While at UF, I found out that as students change apartments before the fall term, they are required to repaint their old apartments or lose their security deposits. I underbid other painting companies and also got some unexpected perks.

MUSEUM TOUR GUIDE: I took a short trip to New York City and volunteered as a tour guide at the Museum of Sex. No pay, but it was a satisfying experience.

MALE MODEL: While in NYC, I had the opportunity to model for the Ammo & Hunting Gear Fall/Winter catalog. $200 per day and I got to keep one of the camo outfits.

FREELANCER: Hanging around downtown during the Melbourne Fall Festival doing some passive/aggressive self-promotion.

Speed Weeks: Summer Races at Daytona

2011-07-06T18:04:00.002-04:00

Super Bowl XLV

2011-02-09T16:13:00.002-05:00

Marbles

2010-12-01T18:03:00.000-05:00

Reefs

2010-12-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

Rauschenberg's Tropic cover

2010-11-23T18:56:00.007-05:00

In 1979, the artist Robert Rauschenberg was commissioned to create the fold-out cover of The Miami Herald's Tropic magazine's end-of-decade issue. It was the first time an original work of art was created for a newspaper.

Rauschenberg and his assistant created the piece of art in The Herald's editorial art department, where I was employed at the time, and I got a chance to see him create the cover.

Watch your head!

2010-11-22T16:32:00.003-05:00

The tour guides on the GrayLine double-decker buses constantly warn tourists not to stand while the bus is moving because of the low clearance of the traffic lights. Some still do.

At least the lock worked

2010-11-22T16:29:00.001-05:00

Greenwich Village, NYC

El Minero, Su Esposa y Su Amante

2010-10-18T17:36:00.004-04:00

The epic rescue of the Chilean miners turned into a soap opera when two-timing Yonny Barrios went from 2,000 feet underground into the arms of his mistress — while his wife boycotted.

However, Susana Valenzuela, the mistress of Yonny Barrios, got a taste of her own medicine when she learned of another mistress Barrios had on the side. Apparently when the miner was in the hospital after his rescue from the mine, a 25-year-old woman wanted to pay him a visit. Susana, 52, made sure the young mistress knew where she stood in the scheme of things.

“He is my Yonny Barrios, mine and no one else’s,” Valenzuela told a radio station in Colombia.

I’ve sent my poster and a proposal for a telenovela to Univision.

I’m waiting to hear from them.

July is Hot Dog Month

2010-07-07T20:28:00.000-04:00

NASCAR Feud

2010-06-30T17:51:00.001-04:00

Uncle Sam and the stock market

2010-06-05T21:04:00.000-04:00

Excited about 4G!

2010-06-05T21:03:00.002-04:00

Happy birthday, Robert Smith of The Cure!

2010-05-19T22:17:00.002-04:00

Today, April 21, Robert Smith is 51 years old. Not many can pull off the teased-hair, lipstick and raccoon eyes look!

Guide to Summer Camps

2010-05-06T16:51:00.001-04:00

Fiscal Fitness 101

2010-05-06T16:49:00.003-04:00

Tiger, I’mma Let You Finish (2)

2010-04-12T19:45:00.004-04:00

Compare this video:

To this video @ 1:50.

SuperBowl XLIV

2010-02-04T16:43:00.001-05:00

The Birds and the Bees

2010-02-01T19:44:00.002-05:00

When to have "the talk" with your child.

Tax-filing time!

2010-02-01T16:24:00.000-05:00

Playaz

2010-01-25T18:53:00.003-05:00

Daytona Beach News-Journal’s pics for best offensive and defensive football players for the ’09 season. The quarterback, left, was originally a star basketball player before switching to football. The defensive linebacker, right, has a 3.9 grade-point average, takes difficult course, and has been offered a scholarship to Dartmouth.

Gorilla foreclosures

2010-01-04T20:48:00.003-05:00

Oregon-based Gorilla Capital has expanded its operations to Florida and has been scooping up foreclosed homes in coastal communities of Volusia County such as Daytona Beach (pier, planes towing banners), Ormond Beach and New Smyrna Beach.

Tiger, I'mma Let You Finish …

2009-12-13T21:37:00.007-05:00

This is called "Killing three (current events) birds with one stone."

The Exotic Menace

2009-12-13T18:30:00.008-05:00

Society of Professional Journalists 2010 Sunshine State Awards
First Place, Front Page Design, Large Newspapers
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Kelly Ann Markowitz, Jennifer Cason & Octavio Diaz
Comments: Very clean and balanced overall look on all pages. Rail on left is well-illustrated and easy to navigate.Nice use of shading and headers on info boxes and refers to avoid making packages too cluttered. Judges especially drawn to the eye-catching “Exotic Menace” illustration.

Front page illo for story about how non-native plants and animals affect Florida’s ecosystem. Here’s the story.

Financial advice

2009-12-08T19:07:00.002-05:00

Night Before Christmas 2009

2009-12-03T22:52:00.002-05:00

Goes with a parody of Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas.”
(Click image to enlarge.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T15:14:00.000-05:00

Growth Rush of 2009

2009-11-22T16:30:00.000-05:00

Developers seek land-use approvals before Hometown Democracy goes to voters.

Company holiday parties

2009-11-19T19:27:00.003-05:00

Restaurateurs are hopeful about holiday party bookings.

Traffic tickets

2009-11-10T19:29:00.002-05:00

Weird things you can get ticketed for.

Halloween safety

2009-11-10T19:14:00.001-05:00

Happy 50th anniversary, Twilight Zone!

2009-10-08T16:27:00.002-04:00

On a Friday night in October 1959, Americans began slipping into a dimension of imagination as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. They’ve never really returned.

The Virtual Fall in Florida Experience

2009-09-21T19:45:00.004-04:00

Florida lacks a real fall season, so for those who want to see the leaves changing colors and feeling that cool snap in the air, there’s The Virtual Fall in Florida Experience!

Here’s the sketch.

Mystery Meat

2009-09-21T19:34:00.003-04:00

Some restaurants have been fined for seafood violations, serving surimi, made from fish protein, and passing it off as crab.

VIP packages

2009-09-21T12:18:00.002-04:00

Bands are using VIP packages to give fans more bang for their buck.
Freelance job for Riverfront Times.

Here’s the sketch.

The Litigation Engine

2009-09-15T17:45:00.003-04:00

Not doing too well in today’s economy.

Happy Labor Day!

2009-09-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

Scary Stories

2009-09-10T19:25:00.002-04:00

Asking readers of the Daytona Beach News-Journal to submit their scary stories. Winner is chosen and his/her story will be illustrated and will run prior to Halloween.

Time for Bobby Bowden to Retire?

2009-08-27T21:30:00.000-04:00

Crowns. A royal pain.

2009-08-25T22:53:00.001-04:00

University of Florida Gators football preview

2009-08-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

If you exercise, you’ll live longer

2009-08-12T15:11:00.002-04:00

Miami Senior High Class of 1969, 40-year Reunion

2009-08-11T15:42:00.001-04:00

I designed the cover of the Memory Book.

Sick at Work

2009-07-20T19:51:00.000-04:00

The Concept Album Makes a Comeback

2009-07-20T19:48:00.001-04:00

Magic’s Dwight Howard as The PuppetMaster

2009-07-20T19:43:00.001-04:00

Borrowing from The Godfather movie poster.

Explaining the Sell-by Date on Food Products

2009-07-20T19:41:00.000-04:00

Hot Dogs

2009-07-20T19:40:00.001-04:00

Whistle Blower

2009-07-20T19:36:00.000-04:00

Credit Card Meltdown

2009-07-20T19:34:00.001-04:00

Companies jack up fees, rates in advance of new law.

Daytona Dream

2009-07-20T19:30:00.002-04:00

For the 50th anniversary of Daytona International Speedway, we imagine what it would be like to watch a “Dream Race” of the best drivers of the Speedway’s past.

CEO Pay

2009-05-27T17:21:00.004-04:00

CEOs are taking a hit from the recession but their companies are making adjustments that could mean fatter paychecks in the future.

Who Are You?

2009-05-27T17:16:00.004-04:00

Illustration to go with story about how one fits in the world social networking and microblogging.

How I Got Started With Photoshop

2009-05-15T21:19:00.009-04:00

When it comes to graphic design and illustration, Adobe Photoshop is the weapon of choice for today’s artists. However, the software itself is a quite tough nut to crack, and extremely hard to master. The concepts are not always intuitive and it’s not always clear when to use what tool and how to use it effectively. In fact, a lot of the trial and error in Photoshop usually takes much time to achieve something you have never done before.

I was first introduced to Photoshop in 1993, when the systems guys at my previous newspaper received the software and passed it on to us in the art department. At first, I was like one of the apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey as they approach the monolith shrieking and jumping.

Subsequently, one of the apes (or artists), realizes how to use a bone as both tool and a weapon (Photoshop) while having mental flashbacks to the monolith (Photoshop), indicating that the monolith has either “taught” or inspired him to this knowledge. Next morning the apes wrest control of the water hole away from the other tribe, killing their leader in the process. Just like with Photoshop.

The next phase of learning the program was similar to a school child receiving a box of 96 Crayola crayons. I wanted to try all the effects and filters at once, sometimes over-doing it. As time passed and I worked on various projects, I used restraint when applying filters and effects, and a style began to emerge which I have been using to some degree of success since.

Once I was comfortable with Photoshop, it was time to say good-bye to the airbrush and other art media. I’ve never looked back since.

The best way to describe my style is “digital collage.” After drawing my initial sketch for an assignment, I begin to draw shapes in Photoshop and fill them with textures of objects I have scanned or photographed. For many of my illustrations, I use photos of hands or sometimes I pose and scan my own hands with a scanner.

I usually spend a lot of time working the faces of the people in my illustrations. This is basically a progression from my initial love of creating caricatures, but now with Photoshop, I use parts of actual photos of faces, cut them apart, stretch them and pull them in different directions, and paste them back together to get the expressions I want.

A lot of blending, dodging (lightening) and burning (darkening) go into getting the effect I want, because I want my figures to have almost a 3D feel to them.

In the future, I will take a project from conceptualizing, to sketching, to putting it together in Photoshop. In the meantime, here’s one sketch and final illustration for a business story about city government officials wanting to increase bed tax for online travel sites.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2009-05-07T22:28:00.004-04:00

April is National Humor Month

2009-04-13T17:11:00.001-04:00

Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame

2009-03-30T22:02:00.001-04:00

For a story about why some musicians are not inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

10 Newspapers That Will Survive The Apocalypse

2009-03-25T22:59:00.013-04:00

A recent story from Business Insider mentioned that there are plenty of local newspapers that, after cutting newsroom bloat, would be very profitable. The story goes on to say that these local newspapers just need to stop spending on trying to find their way out and instead they should focus on running their current good business.

The story named ten newspapers worth acquiring, including my present employer, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, a 100K-circulation daily, located here.

When this story ran, Business Insider did a screen grab of the ten newspapers that (they think) will survive. By coincidence, I had a rare front-page illustration that day. Please click on the headline, read the story and click through to read about all ten newspapers.

The last offer of $26 million to buy the newspaper fell through. Anyone interested? We have beautiful year-round weather, Daytona 500 auto racing, Bike Week, Spring Break …

Using Technology for Job Search

2009-03-25T22:27:00.003-04:00

Taxing the Online Travel Sites

2009-03-25T22:17:00.003-04:00

Government officials want to collect more bed taxes from online travel sites.

Busted in El Salvador

2009-03-18T21:33:00.029-04:00

In 1979, I went on my first trip to El Salvador. Since the early ’70s, we had heard stories from other traveling surfers about Punta Roca, a fabulous point break discovered by Miami surfer Bob Rotherham, who first stumbled upon this little speck of surfing nirvana while traveling through Central America in 1972. He totally fell in love with the country and the surf and married a local woman and settled there.

Bob “Don Roberto” Rotherham surfing Punta Roca in La Libertad.

Hitching a ride back to La Libertad after a surf session at El Sunzal. Often we were picked up by truckers carrying loads of cobblestones. We would climb up the side of the trucks and rest our surfboards on top of the rocks. Here’s me and Jeff’s girlfriend Julie hanging on for the ride.

The point break at El Sunzal.

Robert Gomez and I planned the trip and we were joined by Jeff and his girlfriend Julie. Now, at the time, getting high was a regular pre- and post-surf ritual for most surfers, but having heard horror stories of drug busts in Third World countries, and having seen the film Midnight Express, we all agreed we were not going to bring any weed with us.

We arrived in San Salvador late one afternoon and got a taxi to take us the 15 miles, over the mountains, to La Libertad. We checked into our $10-a-night motel and had dinner at Don Roberto’s restaurant while we prepared for our first Central American surf session the next morning.

One of the important things to know about surfing in Central America is that you dawn-patrol it everyday if you want to catch glassy, uncrowded surf, as the onshore winds usually kick in around 11 a.m and chop up the surf. We woke up before sunrise and walked down the dirt road, past the cemetery, to the cobblestone point and paddled out at first light.

The waves were as great as we had heard them described. Long, winding, hollow rights over a cobblestone point.

After a few days of surfing at La Libertad, we noticed local surfers lighting up on the beach, so we figured that maybe this was a "safe" country, after all. But the locals kept their distance from us, and we did not approach them to try to get high.

One night while having dinner at Don Roberto’s, we met a traveling couple from Hawaii and after trading stories and having a few beers, they offered us a joint of their homegrown weed. Robert, Jeff, Julie and I walked down the dirt road, past the cemetery, onto the cobblestone point where we surfed every day and proceeded to light up.

As we sat on the beach, under the glow of a full moon, the only sound being the clackety-clack of the waves rolling over the cobblestones, the main thing I remember is a simultaneous, collective “Whoaaaah …” from our small group. This stuff was so mild, yet so powerful, that it just crept up on us. It heightened the sounds of the ocean, the glow of the full moon and the moon’s reflection on the surface of the ocean. We all agreed this was some of the best weed we had ever tried.

After a while, we walked back to the restaurant and our new friends from Hawaii were still there. We thanked them profusely for their gift and they replied "Would you like to join us to smoke another?"

Well, of course it would have been impolite of us to refuse such generosity, so we all proceeded to walk back to the beach again. However, this time the women were feeling a bit spooked about the cemetery so we only went as far as the end of the dirt road leading to the beach. Which turned out to be a mistake.

As soon as we had finished our second joint, from the surrounding darkness came three soldiers, one from the beach side, one from the dirt road and one from the cemetery. The very first image I recall is of one of the soldiers standing in front of us, cocking his rifle and saying “Quien tiene la marijuana?" There was no doubt they had smelled our weed burning.

La Libertad was a very small town then, with no police force, so government soldiers were stationed at a small outpost from where they patrolled the town and beaches.

We froze. All the images of Midnight Express raced through my mind. I imagined having to call my parents to tell them I was in a Salvadorean prison.

Being the only Spanish-speaker in the group, I stepped forward and began talking to the lead soldier. I told him we were visiting surfers and that my friends had been drinking and partying too much. The soldier wasn’t believing my story and began a series of questions. Where were we from, he asked, what airline had we flown, what our flight number was, where were we staying.

I don’t know how I was able to retain my composure as I rapid-fired back the answers to him, while being so high that I was seeing swirly patterns of colors on his face.

As I thought I was making headway and somehow convincing him that we had just been drinking, he asked again, "Who has the marijuana? Everyone empty your pockets!”

At this moment I thought, this is it. We’re either busted, or the soldiers are going to rob us. We had been warned by Don Roberto that whenever we ventured away from our motel, we should carry only a minimal amount of cash and no jewelry in case we were robbed. Since we had dinner earlier, I knew that Robert, Jeff, Julie or I had no cash. But we had no idea if our new friends might be carrying weed with them.

As we all emptied our pockets and threw small change and motel keys on the ground, the couple from Hawaii did the same, and they were not carrying any weed!

The soldiers must have believed my story, or must have had some sympathy for us. They walked us back to our motel room as locals watched. We walked in, locked the doors, turned off the lights and went to sleep.

The next morning, as were were surfing perfect waves under sunny skies, I told my friends “We could be in prison right now.”

Foreclosure Scams

2009-03-17T17:15:00.003-04:00

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

2009-03-17T14:28:00.004-04:00

To see the outcome of this epic battle between Notre Dame’s leprechaun mascot versus U2 frontman Bono, click here.

My piranha

2009-03-11T22:09:00.001-04:00

Metal sculptor produces fantasy bike

2009-03-09T15:52:00.004-04:00

By OCTAVIO DIAZ
Staff Writer
Daytona Beach News-Journal

Ever dream of soaring down the highway on the back of a giant metal eagle? Or getting by with a little help from your dragon friends?

Key Largo metal sculptor Kim Brandell's motorcycle creations may help you do just that.

Brandell is exhibiting his unique metal creations, the Screaming Eagle and the Dragon bike during Bike Week at an Easy Riders magazine-sponsored space at the Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach, at the Boardwalk Bike Show on Friday and at the Rat's Hole Bike Show at Daytona Lagoon.

A small crowd gathered as he unloaded his bikes from the trailer and at first impression, most onlookers assumed that the bikes were super-heavy.

Brandell's materials and technique — working with sheet copper and using a brazing rod and an oxygen-acetylene torch — gives the sculptures a massive, heavy-metal appearance, but they actually add only 75 pounds to the total weight of the bikes.

The Eagle bike is a three-piece copper sculpture that is overlaid onto a Harley-Davidson, which has 25,000 miles on it.

The attention to detail shows. Every metal feather overlaps, much as the real bird's feathers do.

"It takes a lot of money and time to build a custom bike," says Brandell, as he estimates in his head a cost of about $25,000 in materials and the amount of time spent to build each bike. Actual work time on the Eagle bike was six to seven weeks, and for the Dragon it was 12 weeks. But this work, which is his hobby, is stretched out over a period of two years, while Brandell continues his commercial work.

The Dragon bike is a functional sculpture. This three-piece metal work is mounted on top of a built-from-the-ground-up custom bike. With a main body resembling the textured, scaly skin of a dragon, several other dragons hold directional signals, speedometer and brake lights. One dragon that sits towards the back of the bike, tail wrapped around the license plate, watches Brandell's back as well as giving the "middle-finger salute" to other traffic following too close.

"I see the dragons as my psychological protectors. I feel I'm getting by with a little help from my dragon friends," said Brandell.

Brandell starts his works with a rough pencil sketch. Then he draws shapes and uses these as templates to cut the sheet copper. As he prepares to cut, he allows extra surface area, because the metal will have to wrap and bend to create a three-dimensional shape. "I think in 3D," says Brandell as he explains his process.

A few years ago, Brandell approached Easy Riders magazine with photos of his motorcycle works and Melissa Penland, principal of Action Promotions Inc., got him started exhibiting his custom creations at bike trade shows.

Brandell started his sculpture career 34 years ago. He began creating copper sculptures in his garage and exhibited his creations at outdoor arts and crafts shows in the eastern United States. After about 10 years, he was commissioned to do his first commercial project at The Mayfair Hotel and Shops in Coconut Grove. He made 18-copper elevator doors, 50 copper herons and 200 copper light sconces throughout the project. Most of his career since has been work for hotels, casinos, restaurants and high-end private residences, and he says he has produced metal sculptures for Donald Trump and Gloria Estefan.

Brandell built his first customized bike while still a senior in high school. It was a 1961 Panhead with silver fox fur mounted on the gas tank and fenders. But he did not build another bike until 2002 and that was the "Iguana Bike," which was featured on the official 2002 Bike Week poster.

And while he continues his metal sculpture work for clients, Brandell says his business is leaning toward the customized bike market.

—————————————————————————————
Here's the link to the News-Journal site for story and more pics.
Here’s the link for the video.

Halloween 2008

2009-03-08T17:14:00.003-04:00

Cover for the Beachside Resident (Cocoa Beach, FL) as well as my Halloween e-card.

Gregg Allman and Friends at Destination Daytona

2009-03-04T22:46:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday night March 1, 2009, as part of Bike Week events, rock and blues musician Gregg Allman performed at Destination Daytona. Although not my kind of music, I went to check it out anyway, since he was originally from Daytona Beach and I wanted to see him play for a hometown crowd. Plus, the newspaper gave me a free ticket.

He and his band Gregg Allman and Friends performed a solid, one-and-a-half hour set, plus two encores, including hits such as Whipping Post, Sweet Melissa, I'm No Angel and closed the show with Goin’ Back to Daytona.

For a 61-year-old guy who's survived alcoholism, cocaine and heroin addiction, hepatitis C and a marriage to Cher, he looked surprisingly fit.

Check out the concert pics here on my facebook page, and check out 30-second cellphone videos here and here and here and here.

Surfing Through the Years

2009-03-02T18:36:00.009-05:00

From the 1968 high school yearbook, when I was a junior.

South Beach sequence, 1978.

Wilderness, Puerto Rico, 1987.

Middles, Puerto Rico, 1988.

Playa Jobos, Puerto Rico, 1990.

Playa Negra, Costa Rica, 1993.

OD’s Birthday Party Invitation

2009-02-23T17:30:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2009-02-12T23:45:00.002-05:00

Friday 13th

2009-02-11T16:00:00.003-05:00

King Gator

2009-02-04T15:48:00.000-05:00

OD: The Early Years

2009-02-01T22:08:00.003-05:00

I was married at the age of six. It was an arranged marriage and I did not get to meet my bride until the night of the ceremony. The relationship was doomed from the start, as neither of us knew what we were supposed to do on our wedding night.

Soon I realized I was too young to settle down, so I joined a biker gang. I stayed up late, drank a lot of sodas, got hooked on sweets.

By age seven, I was totally out of control. I lived a reckless lifestyle, terrorizing the neighborhood in my go-cart.

Then I met the first true (blonde!) love of my life. Linda Simmons was the daughter of my mother’s friend and her American husband. Our six-year age difference didn’t matter. Neither did our inability to communicate with each other, since she spoke no Spanish and I did not speak English. Our one-week relationship seemed to last a lifetime, but then her father had to return to the U.S. I was told their “vacation” was over. Frankly, I just thought her father didn’t trust me! He had heard about my wild behavior. I never saw her again!

I was heart-broken, but rather than return to my reckless lifestyle, by the age of eight, I found religion and began to clean up my life.

Puerto Rico boasts tasty waves, filling food

2009-01-20T16:46:00.005-05:00

I wrote this story for the Travel section of Florida Today newspaper in 2005.

Puerto Rico boasts tasty waves, filling food

Long considered the Hawaii of the Atlantic, Puerto Rico provides warm, crystal-clear waters, bigger, more powerful waves and reef breaks.

Surfing in Puerto Rico increased dramatically after the 1968 World Contest. Since, it has been the first trip and favorite reef-break training ground for Atlantic surfers, offering good surf in a beautiful U.S. territory with a mix of Latin culture and American convenience.

Peak months for surf are November through March, although Puerto Rico can get sizeable surf during hurricane season.

The majority of the surfing breaks are on the northwest tip of the island between Isabela and Rincon. This area offers a variety of breaks situated within a short drive time, depending on the direction of the swell.

Although March usually is a good month for waves on the East Coast, I figured the chances of catching some waves on my birthday would be greater by visiting Puerto Rico then.

An 8 a.m departure from Orlando International Airport and a noon arrival in San Juan, plus the two-hour drive to the northwest tip of the island, guaranteed that I could be in the water the same day. Now, JetBlue flies directly from Orlando into Aguadilla, saving the drive from and back to San Juan.

Surf, eat, surf

Most days start out with a dawn surf check, surfing until about 9:30 a.m., then a run to one of the many panaderias (bakeries) for quesitos (cheese-filled pastries), warm bread and coffee. Then back for another surf session until lunchtime.

For the less adventurous, there's always the McDonald's or Pizza Hut route for meals, but I chose to sample some of the local cuisine.

Brisas del Atlantico restaurant, with its $5 all-you-can-eat buffet, was outstanding. The food was fresh and abundant, which included arroz con habichuelas (rice and beans), carne asada (beef stew), chuletas (pork chops), serrucho (swordfish) and bacalao (cod) and tostones. Tostones (right) are twice-fried green plantains that make a great appetizer or side dish. They usually are served in restaurants to accompany seafood dishes, but they go well with any Puerto Rican dish.

After lunch and a rest to avoid the midday sun, it's time to check the surf again for a late afternoon session.

For dinner, there are plenty of choices to accommodate the budget.

One day, I went back to Brisas del Atlantico restaurant for dinner to try mofongo, the national dish. Mofongo is not for those who are watching their cholesterol. Traditionally prepared in a mortar and pestle, monfongo is made by mashing tostones with garlic, olive oil and chicarrones (fried pork rinds) or bacon. Then the mix is hollowed out to form a bowl and is stuffed with a variety of fillers in a sauce. Some popular fillers are shrimp, lobster and stewed chicken.

Another evening, I found Happy Belly's Bar & Restaurant on the beach road in Playa Jobos. It has a great oceanfront view by day. While eating your lunch, you can watch the surfing action from the restaurant's open-air deck. At night, the sound of the waves and the salty smell of the surf enhance the dining experience. There's live and/or DJ music and dancing on most nights and it stays open until 4 a.m.

I found Happy Belly's to be convenient and priced fairly, with steak and seafood dishes at $15 to $20, fresh mah-mahi sandwiches for $7 and a nightly special of chicken or steak fajitas for $5. Add a side order of tostones and you have a very satisfying meal.

One of my visits there coincided with the Cuba vs. Puerto Rico baseball game of the World Baseball Classic.

Although I'm not a baseball fan, I got caught up in the excitement of the crowd watching the game on TV at the bar and found myself out of place rooting for the team of my home country of Cuba. As one of the Cuban players hit a home run, I hollered loudly and got some menacing stares. No beer bottles were thrown, though.

Catching waves

Near the town of Isabela are the surf spots Jobos and Middles. The take-off zone at Playa Jobos is right next to the huge lava rock formation, and after a steep drop, it offers a speedy, long ride.

Coincidentally, after the wave has spent most of its energy, the wave rolls into a semiprotected cove with a sand bottom, which is the ideal training spot for the many young local kids who are just starting to surf.

Further west are Surfer's Beach and Wilderness, spots that can hold size and provide long rides. When the swell gets too big for these spots, a drive to Wishing Well, Crashboat or Gas Chamber is in order. Further west, the town of Rincon has the reef breaks of Domes, Maria's and Dogman's.

An added bonus to surfing the Rincon area is the chance of seeing endangered humpback whales. The winter months are the prime time to watch the largest mammals. They travel thousands of miles from the cold waters off the U.S., Canada, Greenland and Norway to the warmer waters of the Caribbean to mate and give birth.

The area of Isabela, Aguadilla and Rincon on the northwest corner of the island is so jam-packed with things to do on land and sea, you could exhaust yourself before you exhaust the possibilities.

It's a good thing it also is a relaxing, off-the-beaten-path destination, because after a long day of playing and sightseeing, you'll need a restorative meal and a cozy place to lay your head.

For the days when the waves are too small (it happens), there's snorkeling at Playa Jobos in Isabela and at Blue Hole in Shacks Beach or a short drive to the caves at Camuy.

Leaving Cuba

2009-01-13T17:13:00.010-05:00

I wrote this op-ed piece for Florida Today newspaper in 1994, when another major exodus from Cuba was taking place. Rafts used by balseros, who had been rescued offshore by U.S. Coast Guard, were washing up as far north as Brevard County beaches. I figured this would be a good time to post it on my blog, on the 50th anniversary of the revolution.

CHILDREN WERE BEING TAKEN INTO INDOCTRINATION CAMPS

“Pack up some of your clothes, we’re leaving the country tomorrow morning.”

That's all the warning I had when my parents decided to leave Cuba in July 1961, when I was 10 years old. This was two years after Fidel Castro took control of the government from the previous dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

There was some discontent with the revolution among the middle class after Castro came to power, but no one really talked about these things because everyone was afraid. You didn't know who you could trust. People with anti-Castro sentiments were being reported and arrested.

My first experience with this fear happened when a classmate’s mother asked me how my parents felt about the revolution. I said that my parents were not as happy as when Castro first took power on Jan. 1, 1959. The next time this woman saw my mother, she said, "I hear you’re becoming anti-Castro and that you're not happy with the revolution.” Quickly, my mother changed the subject, and as soon as we were alone she said to me sternly, “If anyone asks you about the government, you should always respond 'I don't know.' ”

Frustration had been growing among the population. People were arrested at random for suspicion of anti-government activity. The socialist government confiscated private businesses, sugar mills and cattle ranches. Many Cubans who opposed Castro were leaving the country, and in 1961, travel restrictions were imposed.

Children were being taken into indoctrination camps, where they were given uniforms and taught to run through the neighborhoods shouting slogans praising the communist government and demanding the death of the imperialistic Yankees. Six- to 10-year-olds demanding death!

I attended Colegio de Belen, a Catholic school in Havana run by Jesuit priests. This was the same school Castro attended as a young man and I remember seeing his picture among the graduating class photos of earlier years.

I could sense there was discontent among the teachers and priests in regard to the government. One day, I arrived at school to find the chapel had been closed and the school was occupied by the militia, who had set up machine gun nests throughout.

It was April 1961, and I later learned that Castro was expecting the Bay of Pigs invasion.

One day during this occupation of the school, I saw from my classroom window (1) a confrontation taking place between an elderly priest and a soldier at the small bridge (2) leading to the entrance of the school. I could not hear what was going on, but I could see there was a heated exchange and the soldier cocked his rifle and pointed it at the priest's chest. A younger priest jumped between the soldier and the priest and I thought we were going to witness a death. Fortunately, the situation was calmed and no one was hurt, but when I got home and told my parents, they took me out of school the very next day under the pretense that the teachers had gone on strike.

Although we were just a middle-class family and had no real property or business that the government could confiscate, for fear that I might be sent to an indoctrination camp, my parents had begun their plan to leave the country. At the time, one could still leave for short trips, such as vacations, but it had to appear as if you were coming back.

My father was employed by the Cuban airline and he often traveled to Mexico and Miami to buy parts for the airplanes. But because of the nature of his travels and because my family was known by most people who worked at the airport, it was not safe for us to leave as a family from the airport. My parents feared they would be arrested.

An uncle who worked for a shipping agency arranged for my mother, my younger brother and I to book a trip on a cargo ship, which had been set up with bunk beds to accommodate people leaving the island. We were lucky enough to embark on the last ship that was allowed to legally leave the island. However, all we were allowed to take was one suitcase each.

So, in the early morning hours of July 28, 1961, we walked out of our house and left everything behind. My father drove us to the port, said goodbye and told us we soon would see each other again. Then he drove himself to the airport, parked the car, left the keys in the ignition for whoever happened to come upon it, and got on a flight for a business trip to Mexico. After he went through a month of immigration hassles, our family was reunited in Miami.

{In 1983, when my father passed away, I was going through his photos and personal papers and found his letter of resignation from his job in Cuba: "Dear Sir, I regret to inform you that I will not be returning to my job, as I have left the country and will not be coming back."}

Thinking back on our flight, it was relatively easy on me, harder on my parents. But it's nothing compared to the present-day emigrants who set sail on rickety crafts, with few supplies, over dangerous seas, leaving families behind for a chance to escape an oppressive government that denies its people the basic human necessities of freedom and opportunity.

Because I have lived most of my life in the United States, I hold no attachment or feelings of nostalgia for Cuba, mostly a sense of curiosity.

I find it interesting that Castro's dream of a utopian, socialist society may just crumble, not from some outside invasion, but from a rotting within.

WARNING:
I found this video of the first days of the Cuban revolution on youtube.
Video contains graphic images.

Orlando’s Magic Year

2009-01-01T18:54:00.000-05:00

Toy recalls around the holidays

2009-01-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

Surf Sacrifice

2009-01-01T18:52:00.001-05:00

Finance-managing for single women

2009-01-01T18:51:00.000-05:00

Sick at work

2009-01-01T18:50:00.000-05:00

Rooms for rent

2009-01-01T18:49:00.000-05:00

Power lunches

2009-01-01T18:48:00.000-05:00

Holidays Private Eyes

2009-01-01T18:47:00.001-05:00

The holidays are busy time for private eyes as people tend to drink and fool around more.

Dueling poker leagues

2009-01-01T18:46:00.000-05:00

Internet business

2009-01-01T18:45:00.000-05:00

Job interviews

2009-01-01T18:44:00.000-05:00

Things not to do during a job interview.

Cell phones for the poor

2009-01-01T18:41:00.001-05:00

About a program where Uncle Sam gives cellphones to the poor.

Computer savvy

2009-01-01T18:39:00.001-05:00

Goes with a Business story about the need to be computer-savvy to succeed in business.

Uncle Sam bails out Wall Street

2009-01-01T18:27:00.000-05:00

Best Gator Ever?

2008-12-31T18:58:00.003-05:00

Goes with a story about whether Tim Tebow is the greatest University of Florida football player ever.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays

2008-12-10T23:21:00.000-05:00

PC sports coverage

2008-12-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

Sports reporters not giving enough coverage to women’s boxing.

New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins

2008-12-10T21:31:00.000-05:00

New Jersey Devil

2008-12-10T21:30:00.001-05:00

New Jersey Devils hockey team wins the Stanley Cup.

’Twas the Night Before Christmas

2008-12-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

New Year’s Eve Survival Guide

2008-12-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

Naughty or nice?

2008-12-10T20:44:00.000-05:00

Mickey Rourke

2008-12-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

The movie star was kicked out of a St. Louis, MO, club for bringing in his dogs.

Orlando Magic’s monkey

2008-12-10T20:41:00.001-05:00

The Magic have had a good season and may be shedding the “monkey on its back.”

Mad Cow disease

2008-12-10T20:40:00.000-05:00

Traveling in Europe during Mad Cow disease.