just back from exercising my franchise

Happy Florida Presidential Primary Day everyone. Even though our votes supposedly won’t count, I did my civic duty anyway. I love going to the polling place. And remember ladies, we were Sufferin’ Till Suffrage…

Hey Hey Tampa Bay

“It took 32 seasons and 1,865 tries, but the Bucs finally returned a kickoff for a touchdown Sunday.”

That’s right, ya’ll. We’ve won a Superbowl since the dark days of…say all of the 1980’s and 1/2 of the 1990’s, but we’ve never run a kick-off back for a touchdown. That seems so incredible, I mean other teams have done that several times in a season. Alas, the Bucs were never able to until yesterday.

How about a rousing chorus of “Hey Hey Tampa Bay“? The Bucs know how to shine, indeed. (Or, if you prefer a more modern ditty, here is the updated version. Or perhaps you would fancy the hip hop classic (although somewhat dated) “Welcome to Ray Jay“?

Also, how random is it that the same guy who owns the Bucs also owns Manchester United?

It’s Columbus Day here in the good old U.S. of A. A day in which we celebrate the “discovery” of America (much to the surprise of those already living here. It’s not like they were an aspiring starlet or an unsigned band, just hanging out, waiting to be discovered…)

Apparently, the holiday was begun in 1892 (400 years after the famously rhymed 1492) by President Benjamin Harrison. (Benjamin Harrison of course being otherwise known, at least to me, as “that dude who was president between the 2 Grover Cleavlands”. Also, he’s a handy answer to trivia questions about related presidents.)

Anyway, I mostly think of Columbus Day as “that day we used to get off work/school but don’t anymore.” State offices in Florida don’t care to let us stay home and rest on this day (ditto President’s Day). Federal employees do get the day off, as my friend Rakes is always quick to point out.

I did just discover that the day is celebrated in places other than the U.S., which I didn’t know (in Spain and throughout Latin America, to name a few). I also learned that it is now called Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela. Sometimes I love that crazy-ass Hugo Chávez. (Mostly for this…it smells of sulfur still…)

For me, Columbus day always brings back the same memory. I was at a Public Enemy concert and Chuck D took the opportunity to address the issue between songs. His words were to the effect of “today we celebrate Columbus Day. Columbus was trying to find a way to India and landed in America instead. Do you know who Christopher Columbus was? Columbus was a lost motherfucker…”

It’s Columbus Day here in the good old U.S. of A. A day in which we celebrate the “discovery” of America (much to the surprise of those already living here. It’s not like they were an aspiring starlet or an unsigned band, just hanging out, waiting to be discovered…)

Apparently, the holiday was begun in 1892 (400 years after the famously rhymed 1492) by President Benjamin Harrison. (Benjamin Harrison of course being otherwise known, at least to me, as “that dude who was president between the 2 Grover Cleavlands”. Also, he’s a handy answer to trivia questions about related presidents.)

Anyway, I mostly think of Columbus Day as “that day we used to get off work/school but don’t anymore.” State offices in Florida don’t care to let us stay home and rest on this day (ditto President’s Day). Federal employees do get the day off, as my friend Rakes is always quick to point out.

I did just discover that the day is celebrated in places other than the U.S., which I didn’t know (in Spain and throughout Latin America, to name a few). I also learned that it is now called Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela. Sometimes I love that crazy-ass Hugo Chávez. (Mostly for this…it smells of sulfur still…)

For me, Columbus day always brings back the same memory. I was at a Public Enemy concert and Chuck D took the opportunity to address the issue between songs. His words were to the effect of “today we celebrate Columbus Day. Columbus was trying to find a way to India and landed in America instead. Do you know who Christopher Columbus was? Columbus was a lost motherfucker…”

Howdy, former sort-of neighbor

In preparation for celebrating America’s birthday, I made a trip to one of my favorite institutions—the Public Library. I needed a suitably vacation-y book to read by the ocean, so off to the library I went. Ours is a good one, with lots of space and places to sit, plenty of terminals to access the card catalog (I still miss those little drawers full of actual cards though), and a great selection of books, books on tape/CD, CDs, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, and more.

But instead of talking about all that good stuff that is inside the library, let’s talk about what’s on the outside. Specifically, the name on the outside.The LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library. On this day after Scooter Libby goes scooting right past jail on a presidential commutation, I thought it might be nice to take a look a statesman. While I wasn’t alive during his time as Governor, Collins seems by all accounts to have provided steady and compassionate leadership during a turbulent time and to have had a true dedication to public service. Check out his accomplishments.This site also enabled me to discover a list of the 50 Most Important Floridians of the 20^th Century. Check out the bios on some of those folks, Florida has some impressive peeps. Plus a “top however many of whatever” list is always fun.

Also, I used to live right next door to The Grove, the Collins’ family home. On the other side of their house is the Florida Governor’s Mansion. A seemingly lovely ‘hood. I’m sure when the Collins’ first moved in, it was a picturesque residential neighborhood. But it is right downtown so the city has kind sprung up around them. This doesn’t really affect the Governor’s pad as it is surrounded by a pretty but substantial fence. And The Grove occupies several acres (the sprawling grounds actually cover a couple of blocks. The house is bounded by First Avenue on one side and Third Avenue on the other. Needless to say, Second Avenue dead ends into their property line.) The rest of the neighborhood is a bit eclectic. Also located within a one mile radius of these locations: the Florida state capitol building, a tattoo parlor, the Florida Supreme Court, the Greyhound bus station, the northeastern edge of Florida State University, a halfway house, several auto body shops, an historic cemetery where Prince and Princess Murat are buried (he was Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, she was George Washington’s great-grandniece), an extremely seedy motel (which is actually called the Prince Murat Motel), and come to think of it…the LeRoy Collins Public Library.

This is the bronze statue in the small park across the street from The Grove and Governor’s Mansion. Florida’s Finest by W. Stanley “Sandy” Proctor, commissioned by former First Lady Rhea Chiles.