Sarasota Livin'

We went to see Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream last night at the Powel Crosley Theatre -- outside on the bay. It was a great night -- perfect weather and a fun play!

Click The Picture for a Slideshow!

Funny two related things happened today (along with my normal boring life) I got paid for my first "sponsored link" on one of my websites - I "sold" it about 2 weeks ago.

I don't know Gigi Silverberg at all. But someone representing her offered to buy a link on my Sarasota Neighborhoods site. She has a nice website and seems pretty good according to her bio.... So I did it.... I have even cleaned-up the site and updated its look after that..

I see that as an affirmation of the content I have out there ... so its a good thing.

Even Bigger..

My frequent readers know that I post lots of pictures and that is the subject of the second cool thing that happened to me today...

I just opened the box on a brand new Nikon D80 Outfit

My current camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ7 I really like it especially the great 12x optical zoom... but I have the opportunity to try out this really nice camera as a participant in Nikon’s “Picture This” campaign

I was a little surprised to be picked for this - I actually thought it was spam at first. So now you know after today (the battery is changing now) I will be taking pictures with a really nice Nikon digital SLR camera that I get to use free (for six months)... I will let you know how the pictures / experience compares to the other digital cameras I have used.

So if you have some money or cool things for me to "test" I maybe can be had ....

Once again this year - a very thoughtful exhibit at Island Park. We do all swim together. We had a good time walking around the exhibit.

I have been out of town recently and not really blogging much. I found this site a few weeks back and wanted to highlight it here so I can find it again.

My Florida History Adventures with history and culture in the Sunshine State -- there is an interesting article on the "Celery Fields" in Sarasota.

It is written by Lucy D. Jones who is President of Florida History, LLC, a historical research company based in Tampa, Florida.

One of the services they offer are:

House Histories

You've heard the saying, "if these walls could talk...." Well, perhaps they can! We use historic records, photographs, and other sources to uncover the who, what, where, when, and why of a house.

Everyone's home is special, and what a great way to prove it! Often, a new home owner will request a house history. Or perhaps a real estate agent is looking for a way to make this house stand out from the crowd. Enhance the value of your home by letting everyone know why it is important to you and the community.

This is pretty cool work if you can get it..

Thursday night we attended the Winter Musical Showcase presented by the Music Department of Riverview High School. As always it was a great show.

Of course my favorite section is the Wind Ensemble. They are "the band" and play under the direction of the Director of Bands Mark Spreen

click on the pictures to see some video (sorry the sound is not better)

What makes American culture unique ... I don't know everything but I think it is our hard work. I work hard day and night and I think it is because I like it...

Philadelphia has started marketing itself as onebigcampus.com 19 colleges have banded together to promote Phila as a great place for college students. This single website gives info on all things related ... info on the schools and how to get around town and find what "you" want out of a great city.

I listened to an interview with Todd Hoffman on the Smart City Podcast he is president of the consulting firm working with the city. I also saw it on the CoolTown Studio blog.

OK Sarasota can New College, Ringling College of Art, USF, MCC and Ringling Museum / FSU and the folks at the "cultural district" work together to do something like this?

The work some of them started on the study of the North Trail is a beginning ... can "we" keep the ball rolling???

Who will be the leader ...