Taking Over Miami

Today I write to you from scenic Miami, Florida. Actually, I think technically I am in South Beach, which is a part of Miami I guess. I’m not sure really. I got here this afternoon and am still trying to figure it all out. As best I can tell though, I am in the area where Marc Anthony and/or people who would really like to be friends with Marc Anthony hang out. Despite all this, however, I’m not really hating it that much, which is strange for a person like me who hates most things in life. A lot of the buildings here are in the deco style and are painted in soft pastels and bright whites, which for some reason are agreeable to me at the moment.

Last time I was in Florida, I was almost arrested for no apparent reason. They have vagrancy laws down here and if you look like riff-raff, which I guess the cops/the fuzz/the pigs/johnny law thought my friends and I did at the time (we were in a travelling rock band, which historically is a sign of trouble), they can roust you if they feel like it. They saw us walking around aimlessly, looking in store windows and whatnot, and didn’t like it. We ended up not being carted off in the end but I have since learned not to go shirtless in this state, unless poolside or oceanside of course (and even then I often avoid it, though for other reasons entirely).

Anyway, I am here for a few days making some television and am staying at the Catalina Hotel, which is small and arty and adorable, as you can see from the photo above. That’s me sitting on the bed in my room. There is a cool red light that hangs above the bed, presumably to highlight all the hardcore boning that must usually go on in these rooms. Sadly, however, I am staying here all alone, so I guess the only hardcore boning that will go on in this room while I’m here will take place in the mind (and on the Internet).

On another note, if you look over my right shoulder in the photo above, you can see a large book of photographs propped up on the moulding of the room. I didn’t notice it at all until it came crashing down at random a couple hours ago and scared the crap out of me. It’s one of those “art books” though so I’m thinking it might have some nudie photos in it. And for that reason I can’t stay too mad at it. I’ll keep you posted.

I stepped out for dinner tonight (Italian) and along the way happened upon a liquor store called Big Daddy’s. I’m told it’s a chain of some sort. Anyway, I like the guy with the beard (who is presumably Big Daddy himself). I’m guessing he is supposed to look like some big hairy guy that is not opposed to drunken good times, kind of like a low rent Ernest Hemingway or something. I wonder if the people who run Big Daddy’s know that he also looks like a big gay bear. Not that that’s a bad thing- either way, you’re bound to sell a few drinks if you’ve got a big guy with beard on the sign out front. And- as if to prove my point- they seemed to be doing a brisk business.

Meanwhile back at the hotel, there is a bar downstairs that looks like quite the funspot. The photo above is of one of the seating areas I passed on the way back to my room. There weren’t many people firing it up at the time, but as you can tell from the bright colors and the crazy tables and chairs and all, this is a bar where good times can be had pretty much any time if you really set your mind to it. It’s right next to the pool too, so really there’s no end to the mayhem if you think about it. This afternoon I took a walk down to the pool to have a look around and folks were hanging out in swimsuits and drinking some drinks, all of which of course only furthered my impression that it’s good times all the times when you’re down here in scenic Miami. Unfortunately however, I was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans at the time and after a couple seconds I started to feel like everyone at the pool thought I was just some creepy dude who came down there to check out chicks in bikinis (which- to be fair- I was), so I headed back up to my room to take a nap.

Okay, um, that is pretty much the deal with me at the moment. More on this and other topics later.

Dave Hill