Showing Respect

The Ball Chair In Miniature!

A Hundred Years - A Hundred Chairs. Masterworks from the Vitra Design Museum is the current exhibition through September 16th at the Tampa Museum of Art. It's a large collection of chairs arranged on steel and glass shelves but is much more interesting than you might imagine. It's really very cool. There are chairs you will instantly recognize and others you’ll be very glad you never had to sit on as a child (as punishment). Plastic, wood, metal, leather and lots of great plastic creations.

There are displays featuring drawings, sketches, ads and brochures that help educate and guide you through the interesting history. All of them are on loan from the Vitra Design Museum located in Weil am Rhein, Germany (to visit Vitra click HERE). The museum holds the estates of designers like Charles and Ray Eames, and the main building was designed by architect Frank Gehry. Some of the chairs look pretty dull when compared to Gehry’s design for the building that houses them. The exhibition is well worth seeing. For more info click HERE.

The chair you see above is very small. It measures roughly 8-inches top to bottom but is an exact copy of the famous Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair design of 1965. It's so emblematic of the culture of the 1960s and yet very few people actually owned one. Cocoon-like and extremely comfortable, it's a shiny plastic sphere with cozy cushioning covering the entire inside. (Very 2001 Space Odyssey.) This 1/6 miniature (costing about $355) is available from the museum gift shop.



Tampa Is Shining On Our Nation's Birthday

This view of downtown Tampa's tallest buildings was taken from the patio of the Tampa Museum of Art. The playground on the right is on the Hillsborough River and Tampa's Riverwalk in Curtis Hixon Park.

Hockey Dude Hiding

A promotional trailer for Tampa's NHL team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, is parked in a empty, dusty lot across from the St. Pete Times Forum. It's parked up close and nearly hiding beside a very old water main apparatus...I think. Someone can probably and immediately identify this rusted hunk of pipe but it escapes me.

My Snazzy Dormer Has A Chimney.

The July theme for City Daily Photo bloggers all over the world is chimneys. This chimney and the fancy dormer are a couple blocks from our home and sit atop a very large , 1920s era brick home. To see other CDP chimneys, click HERE.

Duck and Cover: Spray Paint Genuis Ahead

Palace of Juice, Sandwiches, Soup and Pizza!

CLOSED: Storm Floods Tampa's Bayshore

Tropical Storm Debby has started its eastward move across Florida making its landfall north of us near Cedar Key. Winds are now 50mph and rain isn't coming down quite as hard as yesterday. Tampa received 7 inches during the height of the storm and winds gusted to 50mph. Normally scenic Bayshore Boulevard was flooded and remained closed today from Rome Avenue to the Davis Islands Bridge. Kayakers and canoeists enjoyed the view of the wind-whipped and white-capped waves of the Hillsborough Bay. An ABC News crew slogged through the flooded street to interview the "boaters" as the normally busy car traffic was reduced to picture-takers and the occasional joggers - who can't be kept from their appointed rounds no matter what.

Hurricane Debby and Spanish Grand Prix Clash!

With tropical storm, soon to be Hurricane Debby churning at 65 mph offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, and rain and winds blowing the neighborhood about, I turned to the television and the Spanish Grand Prix Formula One World Championship race being televised from Valencia. In the midst of a great race, tornadoes were spotted nearby and the TV went crazy with beeping and warnings. Spain looked mighty good versus our water soaked, flooded, windblown world in Tampa and Hillsborough County.

Be Very Afraid: Tow Away Zone

NO Lifetime Warranty Here

We Need More Signs. NOW!!

Do you immediately turn in when you are assaulted by a display of roadside signs like these for an auto repair shop and car wash? Do you?? Is it the handpainted ones or the billowy red, white and blue flags that really do the trick?

Hey, I'm Walking Here!

Grab Your Patriotic Tastebud!

What's Happening Next Door?

Tranquility - Gurgling Fountain

The City Daily Photo theme for June is TRANQUILITY. Visit my fellow City Daily Photo bloggers to see what that found tranquil in their part of the world.  

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Speeding Fines Doubled: Flagman Ahead

Your Yacht Awaits A Pleasure Cruise

A Meridian 381 family cruiser is docked on Garrison Channel at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel across from Harbour Island. The cruiser’s twin 370-hp MerCruiser gas inboards can take this boat to over 32 mph. (It holds 300 gallons but gets just 0.59 miles per gallon! Ouch!!)  It has two full-size staterooms and sleeps six…bring your friends and family. Two SeaDoo watercraft sit ready on the dock. Enjoy!

Heavily Armed Special Operations Assault

Crowds of people on Harbour Island are the backdrop for a Special Operations Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat and U.S. Special Operations team demonstration assault today on a barge fronting the Tampa Convention Center. These fast boats have twin diesels driving waterjets and are extremely quick – with a top speed above 40 knots – and maneuverable. They draw only two feet of water and as you can see, they can be very heavily armed. The United States Special Operations Command was host to several demonstrations of Special Operations Force capabilities, featuring operators from a dozen countries “assaulting” mock enemy positions and rescuing “hostages” next to the convention center, both on land and in the water. Boats, assault vehicles, ATV’s, helicopters and other aircraft were involved in the rescue scenarios as special operators from the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force work alongside Special Operations Force teams from partner nations around the world.

Monster Transformer Masquerades As Hockey Star

I posted this hockey player's brother transformer from the NFL back in July 2009. Read more about Tampa's Rustic Steel Creations HERE. They're the folks who dream up and build these incredible metal artworks. 



Lit Up Coffee Crowd

Hot Daily Specials!

Spotted Cow Steps

Duck catching rays at Ballast Point

Shrimp, Glorious Thai Shrimp

The JusThai restaurant - "The New Way To Thai" - named this dish Cam Cam Shrimp. Luscious, juicy shrimp, lightly battered and wok-fried with onions and red and green peppers. My Cam Cam Shrimp was ordered spicy hot and was delicious. Jasmine rice was fluffy and very good. It was fun watching the chefs stir the ingredients around the wok over a huge, hot flame. It took just a couple of minutes to prepare. An order of crunchy Thai rolls and sweet chili sauce complemented the shrimp. Very nice folks and we are so glad we found them. They've been open since January on Neptune in Palma Ceia. You'll like the casual, inviting atmosphere inside and out under umbrellas. You must try JusThai for incredible Thai food. Visit them HERE online.

Skywatch Friday, Season 5, Week 44

The calm, lazy waters of the Marjorie Yacht Basin on Davis islands...a favorite place to capture Tampa's boating lifestyle and the skyline over Harbour Island. Our weather today? It's 81°F, a bit of blue sky and puffy white clouds. A 12 mph wind and 54% humidity. Gorgeous!  

Visit Skywatch Friday to see the beauty and wonders of the world's most magnificent skies. It's always an amazing show and all brought to you by Skywatchers from all over the planet.

Watery Wednesday #176

Click HERE to see other wet and Watery Wednesday images from around the world.

Tampa's Fireboat Back Into The Water

I first posted about this fireboat in the fleet of Tampa Fire Rescue back in May 2009. Click HERE. Tampa had just purchased a new boat and was awaiting its delivery in September of that year. Click HERE to read about the city's newest boat, the Patriot. She's quite the vessel. I caught the crew putting this boat back into the water at the Seaplane Basin ramp on Davis Islands.

Fried shrimp as big as Pekingese

The Old Salty Dog Restaurant is at New Pass directly on the water just in from the Gulf of Mexico heading to Sarasota Bay. The fried shrimp are indescribable. Complimented by delicious cole slaw, and fries plus a new-found favorite beer, Sam Adams Summer Ale. It's not nearly as good as the shrimp - what is??!! - but really good on a near 90 degree day. If you like beer, check out this description: malted wheat, lemon peel and Grains of Paradise, a rare pepper from Africa first used as a brewing spice in the 13th century, to create a crisp taste, spicy flavor and medium body. Believe me, if I wasn't driving I'd have had a couple more...just to slack my thirst on a hot, humid Florida afternoon. Old Salty Dog was featured on Travel Channels' Man vs Food. Dogs are welcome and you're encouraged to bring Fido. The easiest way to get to Old Salty Dog is to take Fruitville Road Exit west off I-75 north or south toward Sarasota. Continue on Fruitville until it ends at Highway 41. Turn left, stay in the right lane and head out to St. Armand's Key on John Ringling Boulevard. Keep right at the circle toward Longboat Key and turn right onto Ken Thompson Parkway. Mote Marine Laboratory (worth a visit!) is directly across the street. The shrimp are on the left. Enjoy!

A Little Off The Top, Sir?

The Best 9 Foot Long Cuban Sandwich

The Republicans Are Coming!

The Tampa Bay Times Forum, home of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning, can be seen from Harbour Island over the boat docks on Garrison Channel. The Forum will be the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention in August. And, yes, it's gorgeous and hot today (89 degrees) but it'll be sizzling in the midst of Tampa's summer hurricane season.