Two of his kids live in the Tampa Bay area, and he could move here to be close to them (and presumably continue the search for Nicole Brown’s and Ron Goldman’s real killer).
In statements that I assume were meant to be reassuring, OJ said that he’s benefited from anger management classes he took in prison, and his former manager says that Tampa’s probably a better place for him than Miami since it doesn’t have Miami’s nightlife or South Beach’s drugs:
By now, you’ve probably seen the video of the guy in Hileah (a suburb of Miami) who expressed his displeasure with AT&T maintenance trucks parked in front of his house by calmly fetching his revolver and shooting out their tires and engines, reloading several times:
Let’s face it, given the lousy service and way telcos rip us off, who hasn’t wanted to shoot up their stuff? (I know a lot of Canadians who’d happily fire a grenade launcher into a Rogers or Bell Canada truck.)
The Miami Herald reports that the shooter in question is retired firefighter Jorge Jove. They write:
Jorge Jove didn’t like the AT&T work trucks in front of his Hialeah home Wednesday morning. So, he retrieved his revolver and began shooting out the tires and the engine, police said.
Though Jove began firing to kill only a vehicle, a Hialeah sergeant says he saw Jove fire at an AT&T worker in a raised bucket lift. Hialeah police arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm and criminal mischief. He posted $30,000 bond. Police seized the handgun from Jove, who doesn’t have a concealed weapons permit, according to the arrest affidavit.
Here’s a longer video, which opens with the AT&T worker saying a bleeped-out “Oooohhh shit”. This longer clip includes the bit where the worker tells the 911 operator that he’s got a co-worker who’s trapped in the “bucket” and can’t get down because Jove’s still shooting at the truck.
Here’s a follow-up story from local news, in which they report that Jove has no prior offenses on his record (but hey, you’ve gotta start somewhere):
You might think that shooting out a truck’s tires and engine may be the exact opposite of what to do when you want them to leave, and you’d be right. It turns out that Jove, while unhappy with their presence, didn’t want the trucks to leave until the cops arrived, which is why he shot them.
It’s all here in a follow-up article titled The man who shot at parked AT&T trucks told police he went ‘bananas’:
According to Jove’s report, Jove was upset “because the trucks were parked in front of his driveway, and he feared damage to his pavers.”
About an hour after “having words” with one of the workers, Jove came out with his .357 revolver and caused over $1,000 of damage to the trucks, an officer wrote in the report.
A Hialeah sergeant who responded to the shooting said he saw Jove fire at an AT&T worker in a raised bucket lift. After being told to put his weapon down, Jove dropped it on the swale, according to the report.
“After waiving his Miranda Rights the defendant furnished a statement stating he went ‘bananas’ and wanted to stop them from leaving,” the officer wrote in the report. “He shot at tires and truck to [get] the AT&T workers from leaving prior to police arrival.”
Thanks to Rob Schneider for the find!
Sunday, July 2: A beautiful day to join the guided walking tour of South Beach’s art deco buildings, courtesy of the Miami Design Preservation League. It ran 90 minutes, during which time we got to see South Beach’s predominant architectural styles: Art deco, Mediterranean revival, and MiMo.
Art Deco is short for the French term arts decoratifs (decorative art), which in turn was derived from a 1925 expo called Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International exposition of decorative and modern industrial art), where the style was popularized.
The Miami Design Preservation League says that art deco designs feature the following:
Over-all symmetry, ziggurat (stepped) rooflines, glass block, decorative sculptural panels, eyebrows, round porthole windows, terrazzo floors, curved edges and corners, elements in groups of three, neon lighting (used in both exteriors as well as interior spaces).
Many of South Beach’s buildings were built in the 1930s, when a later variant of art deco architecture called Streamline Moderne, a.k.a. Art Moderne, came into being. According to Wikipedia, “Its architectural style emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements.”
You may recognize the Carlyle (construction started in 1939, and was completed in 1941) from a number of films. It was the gay nightclub in The Birdcage, and also appeared in Scarface and Bad Boys II.
The Leslie hotel was designed and built in 1937 by Albert Anis, who designed a number of hotels in Miami Beach. It’s one of the newer renos, having been renovated in 2014.
Anton Skislewicz designed the Breakwater, which was built in 1939. Its roof was used as the backdrop for this famous ad for Calvin Klein Obsession from 1987:
The Congress was built in 1936 and now is functions as vacation condos. Its owners also own the two buildings to its right, and painted all three buildings with the same white and light blue color scheme.
On the next block north of the Congress is Hotel Victor.
At 12 stories, the Tides towers above its Ocean Drive neighbors. It was the tallest art deco building of the mid-1930s and was designed by Lawrence Murray Dixon.
The tour took us inside the Tides, which has a beautiful lobby, from which you can see the “Turtle Room”…
The story is that many years ago, one of the Tides’ guests left five large tortoise shells in their room. It’s presumed that the guest was a smuggler, but for some reason decided that the shells were too “hot” and simply ditched them. The hotel had several duplicates of the original shells made, and both originals and copies hang on the wall today, and it’s said that no one at the hotel knows which are which.
They’ve plugged up the porthole windows on the Essex, but kept the other art deco features, such as the tower, eyebrows, and the font. It was built in 1938 and designed by Henry Hohauser.
The Webster was also designed by Henry Hohauser, and its art deco pedigree was enhanced by the classic cars parked in front of it that day. It started out as a hotel, but is now a three-story boutique for designer clothes.
The Kent hotel first opened in 1939.
Originally named the Fairmont and constructed in 1936, the Fairwind is another 2014 reno.
Crescent
The Crescent was built in 1941, and yet another Henry Hohauser design.
Completed in 1939, the Winter Haven was designed by Albert Anis.
Another Henry Hohauser hotel: the Edison, built in 1935.
Yet another Henry Hohauser design: Señor Frogs, which was once Jerry’s Famous Deli:
The McAlpin and Ocean Plaza are side by side on Ocean Drive and are now Hilton properties.
Did Henry Hohauser design everything in South Beach? The Penguin (originally the Golden Dawn) is another of his works.
The answer to my question about Henry Hohauser above appears to be “Yes. Yes he did.” The Commodore is another one of his designs, this one dating from 1939.
We returned to Miami Design Preservation League’s Art Deco Welcome Center at the end of the tour. We decided to close it out with photos of ourselves by the Miami Beach clock/thermometer, and then head to lunch.
The teaser trailer for The Disaster Artist, James Franco’s movie about the making of The Room takes one of the most iconic scenes from that terrible movie, and turns it into pure cinematic gold. Let’s hope the rest of the film is as good.
If you’ve never seen The Room, here’s the “Oh hi, Mark!” scene referenced in the trailer:
I’m laughing and groaning at the same time.
In case you don’t get the joke:
Thanks to Douglas King for the find!
It’s a plot by the Pentavirate: there’s suddenly a lot of KFC-branded merchandise on the market. I’m seriously considering getting the “FRIED CHICKEN USA” shirt so I can wear it to the gym.
It’s not just clothing and jewelry. In China, KFC partnered with Huawei (the largest smartphone manufacturer you’ve never heard of) to release a KFC-branded phone to commemorate the restaurant chain’s 30th anniversary in the country:
In case you don’t get the “Pentavirate” reference, here’s the relevant scene from So I Married an Axe Murderer…
Café con Tampa is a weekly gathering where people interested in the issues that affect Tampa Bay and the world beyond meet to learn and share ideas with interesting, entertaining (and sometimes infuriating) guest speakers. It takes place every Friday between 8 and 9 a.m. in the wonderful setting of Oxford Exchange, a combination of restaurant, book store, gift shop, co-working space, design studio, event venue, and one of the best “third places” I’ve ever set foot in. It’s attended by an interesting audience that’s often a mix of movers and shakers from the worlds of arts, business, academia, and government. If you want to have interesting conversations with some of the area’s movers, shakers, and idea-makers (and enjoy Oxford Exchange’s delicious breakfast spread), you should attend!
Today’s speaker at Café con Tampa was Michelle Royal, CEO and founder of RIDG, which is pronounced “ridge” and short for Royal Innovation Design Group. A consultant, entrepreneur, and speaker based in St. Petersburg, she helps people and organizations create breakthroughs in the way they think and act, which are very necessary in this day and age. She gave an interesting talk and started some lively discussions today. Here are my annotated notes…
For a little more context, here’s RIDG’s video (it’s 6:35 long) about what it means to be “disruption ready”:
How would you suggest we re-orient Trump past his “prom fixation” — the need to be the most popular, the most talked-about person — in order to get him to make positive changes?
With all the current forces and factors affecting work, jobs are under threat. How do we have a society without jobs?
What about blue-collar work? Why is it being ignored or given less stature when there are many blue-collar jobs that pay as well as many white-collar ones?
I’m fascinated by the use of the word “disruption”. How do you distinguish between disruption and just plain old evolution?
A note from Joey: Moore’s Law is named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, who observed in 1965 that the number of transistors you could pack onto a chip doubled every two years. It’s since been diluted into the more layperson-friendly summary that computer power doubles every 18 months.
I’m in the restaurant business, where the predominant narrative is that there aren’t enough people to do the work. How do we attract people to do the work, which requires standing for a long time in “fire and ice”?
What do you think about things like the Blue Ocean Strategy or Lean Startup?
In a world with increasing automation and an Orwellian corporate presence, with everything monitored and measured, how do we maintain a good quality of life and disrupt disruption?
Can or will government play a role in disruption or mitigating its effects, especially with Millennials not having had an impact on government yet?
Bill Carlson: I’m concerned about the messages we’re getting out to young people. I was recently at a meeting with local leaders, and one of them suggested taking all university funding, focusing it on solely STEM, and getting rid of “stupid [non-STEM] degrees”. What do we do about this, especially since in 10 years, it’s the white collar jobs that will get wiped out?
We talk about disruption like hurricanes — why don’t we talk them more as things we can use in our favor?