The Rockets were ready.

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Brown's election part of a new era
12/29/2011

The biggest story of 2011 in Jacksonville was the historic win by Alvin Brown as the mayor of Jacksonville.

Only the members of Brown’s campaign and a rare pollster could see this coming.

Republican candidates Audrey Moran and Rick Mullaney knocked each other off in the primary, then Mike Hogan did just about everything wrong in the general election.

Still, Brown had to sell Republicans on the notion that he was a real conservative Democrat, something like the brand that once dominated Jacksonville politics a generation ago.

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Wine Tastings: Dec. 29-Jan. 4
12/29/2011

SPECIAL EVENTS

Blind Wine Tastings, 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Zaitoon Mediterranean Grill, 13475 Atlantic Blvd., Suite 41. Includes light hors d’oeuvres and prizes. $15. (904) 221-7066 or zaitoongrill.com.

Thursday, Dec. 29

Anjo Liquors: 9928-1 Old Baymeadows Road, 5-8 p.m. (904) 646-2656.

Circle Japan, 12192 Beach Blvd., Suite 1. An introduction to sake tasting, 5-8 p.m. (904) 710-5193.

The Grotto: 2012 San Marco Blvd., 6-8 p.m. (904) 398-0726.

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Taste Test: Meet our new panelists
12/29/2011

A new group of volunteers for the Times-Union Consumer Panel have gathered in the kitchen but, before they begin, the current panelists deserve a pat on the back for all their hard work. Thanks everyone. You’ve done a great job.

Now, let’s meet our new panelists. Westside resident Gene Adams was born in Miami but grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Paxon High School. A father of seven grown children, he shares his home with his granddaughter Ashli, a college student and food server.

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Ash leads Texas over Cal 21-10 in Holiday Bowl
12/29/2011

SAN DIEGO — David Ash threw for one touchdown and caught a TD pass to lead Texas to a 21-10 victory against California in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night.

The Longhorns (8-5) had five takeaways and sacked Cal's Zach Maynard six times.

The Golden Bears (7-6) are winless in five games against the Longhorns dating to 1959.

Ash caught a 4-yard pass from wide receiver Jaxon Shipley in the second quarter to join BYU's Steve Young, Texas A&M's Bucky Richardson and Oregon's Joey Harrington as quarterbacks who've caught scoring passes in the Holiday Bowl.

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Your Christmas Morning Sift
12/27/2011

A- Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas thoughts and wishes from Some Blogging Guy, Go Hydrology!, Redland Rambles, Gun Free Zone,  The Chowfather,  Coconut Grove Grapevine, and Bark Bark Woof Woof. 

B- Some Blogging Guy says that the new Rusty Pelican is nothing like the old one and that's a bad thing from his perspective.

The quaint Rusty Pelican has become the Pretentious Rusty Pelican. They ought to change the name entirely. A friend of ours ordered something and it looked like an empty plate was delivered to her.

We had two fireplaces in the house, including one in the kitchen, so that's where we hung our stockings with care. Christmas morning would arrive and the four kids would line up, youngest first, on the back stairs, squirming with anticipation until we were let into the kitchen and a breakfast of Christmas baked treats, including a Scandanavian stollen baked by a family friend. (Never one who liked things like that, I often wished the stollen would be stolen....) Then we'd line up at the appropriate closed door behind which lay the treasure. Nearly fainting with the anticipation, the door would be flung open - a four-voiced gasp of breath, followed by pounding feet and squeals of delight.

A- Nice, heart-warming Christmas Eve story at Random Pixels.

B- Holiday greetings from A Mom, a Blog and the Life In-Between and Searching for Normalcy.

C- Blogging Black Miami shows us that racism is alive and well and can be found on the Herald comment board.

D- PhinPhanatic has some thoughts on today's loss to the Patriots.

The loss means nothing for the Dolphins in the overall scheme of things. Todd Bowles will find it harder to remain the permanent head coach and the Dolphins will still be looking for both a new HC and a franchise QB. For New England, they clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

E- Some Blogging Guy shares a few images of over-the-top Christmas displays in South Florida.

F- Yeah, I know. Who really wants to read about even more transgressions by the Bush Administration on Christmas Eve? They're at Discourse if you can stomach it.


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12/27/2011

I think there's something here for everyone...




-thanks to Restaurant Gal for the inspiration...

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Thank you just doesn't seem enough, but it's all we have. E- Restaurant Gal notes how dysfunctional families can be when they visit her restaurant.

To the parents of the single male child out with you tonight. For just one night, talk to each other. Talk about the weather. Talk about the traffic. Talk about anything remotely mundane and utterly boring. Long silences punctuated with sighs and downcast eyes usually lead to tears, if not in public, then later while alone. Because this is how he feels–very alone. Merry Christmas my three solitary, very silent folk. I hope you find your voices very soon.

F- Gun Free Zone finds reason to complain about the commemoration of the senseless shooting of a U.S. congresswoman and other innocent Americans.

G- The Reid Report says that Democrats have a lot to be happy about in 2011.

The Republicans clearly won 2010. They took over the House of Representatives, several key governorships and legislatures, and therefore will get the better of Census-triggered redistricting. They got the mainstream media to join their fixation on “cutting spending” and talk about it ad infinitum, rather than talking about jobs. But 2011? It was pretty much a straight sets win for President Obama and the Democrats…

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Each night since Hanukkah began on Tuesday, Friends of Lubavich has held a parade of as many as 100 cars with Menorahs on their roofs. The caravan, escorted by Miami Beach Police, starts on Alton Road at 12 Street and heads north to 17th Street, then east the Washington Avenue, south to Ocean Drive, then north and on and on….to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale.

C- Burger Beast posts a short instructional video on how chicharrones are made at El Jefe Luchador in Deerfield Beach.

D- Paseo is a great little Caribbean cafe in Key West, according to Florida Keys Girl.

On the corner of Eaton Street and Grinnell, in the former home of Paradise Cafe, sits the new Paseo. You won’t find a fancy sign or any other indication that what exists inside is truly sensational, but it is. The owner of Paseo is so secretive, he comes in to make the sauces when they are closed on Mondays and Tuessdays, and doesn’t share the secrets with anyone. The result? Caribbean food that is outrageously good.

E- Shorter Gun Free Zone...

I prefer gals who are more like guys.

F- There's a kickass new burger joint opening in the Grove tomorrow that is giving away free beer the entire first week they're open, so says Eater Miami.

Owner Matthew Kuscher, who spent 11 years at Houston's, plans to include some of his Puerto Rican heritage into the menu, which will include his own version of a frita: a pressed burger schmeared with guava jelly, melted gruyere and chopped French fries, and a donut burger with bacon and cheese.

G- 17 new photos are up at The Street.

H- Miami Beach 411's Carlos Miller checks out an "urban bike" that he observed during his morning cup of coffee.

The fold-up bicycle he is selling comes with carrying case, air pump, tool kit and instructions.

It’s not the most comfortable looking bicycle but it’s not meant for long distances, he said.

It’s more of an urban bike, perfect for riding to the Metrorail before folding it up and carrying it inside with you, then using it ride to your office in downtown, for example.

I- Prominent conservatives think there is something devious about the White House's Christmas card this year even though it carries the same message that it always has...at Bark Bark Woof Woof.


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among other things. You wanna talk about change? Let's talk about change.

You might recall all the gloating and braggadocio that was on display after Republicans won big in 2010. Oh my, how conservatives were so proud of themselves and their principles. And how they were going to stick to them.

The gloating is history. As are their principles.

Clown suits litter the floor of the room where Bachmann, Santorum, Paul, Perry, Cain, Gingrich, Huntsman, and Romney once stood. Pitiful Republicans are ready to place their trust in any candidate who might be able to give Obama a run for his money, no matter how true or untrue they are to real conservatism. It's 2008 all over again, except they're too obtuse to realize it just yet.

But what really, really makes my day is the bellwether of the South Florida blogosphere's hard right, Babalu Blog, is spending more time ripping Republican candidates than supporting them.

Life is good.



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Much of the danger comes from the mouths, noses and hands of passengers sitting nearby. The hot zone for exposure is generally two seats beside, in front of and behind you, according to a study in July in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Enjoy your flight!



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What I'm not buying is the mainstream media's argument that by using large bodies of content, blogs and news aggregators are taking traffic away from the newspapers because, as one "long-time Herald reporter" told Random Pixels, ""Sure they link to our stories, but who's going to click through after they've read the entire story on the Huffington Post?"

Here's a couple answers, Long-Time Herald Reporter: Someone who likes what they just read and wants to see more stories like it, that's who. Someone who wants to see the comments to the story. Someone who wasn't planning on stopping by the Herald that morning but after reading the story might click on the link to not only take them to the specific piece that they just read but maybe the newspaper as a whole. So that they can click from article to article and drive up site traffic which means better numbers which means higher advertising rates for the Herald.

Because what the Long Time Herald Reporter and other supposedly internet savvy newspaper people apparently haven't figured out yet is that the news aggregator or blogger's post is free advertising and linkage for the publication and that the link means more traffic from potential visitors that they, in some cases, wouldn't have had otherwise. Much more, I would be willing to bet, than the numbers who read the story offsite and don't bother to visit the Herald or the New Times or the Sun-Sentinel ever again that day.

Having said that, I do not support posting a story or article in its entirety, primarily because of how much space it can take up on a blog. Yes, I've done it and was called on the carpet by Random Pixels and the Herald, but still, a link is a link and I'm not quite sure why the mainstream media isn't viewing a blog or aggregation link simply as another vehicle to their product.

At this juncture I'd like to formally state that I don't have any problem with anyone who wants to reprint an SFDB post in its entirety as long as they link back to SFDB. The way I see it, the more exposure, the better.

Makes sense to me.


-image via blogihub



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A- Sun-Sentinel: Ummm, the fact that they're selling it at a flea market should be a tip off.

An international crackdown on counterfeit merchandise on sale for the holidays, from fake Louis Vuitton purses to phony Dora the Explorer wristwatches, brought federal agents to the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop, where a raid resulted in thousands of items being seized and clues that investigators hope will lead them to the illegal manufacturers.

"This is all part of major organized crime," said Camen Pino, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in South Florida. "It's not just one person with a suitcase in a corner selling fake watches. Every time you buy one of these items, you are helping organized crime."

[...]

Swap Shop owner Preston Henn told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday that he discourages vendors at the sprawling facility on Sunrise Boulevard west of Interstate 95 from selling knockoffs. But with about 5,000 vendors hawking thousands of different items each day, it would be impossible to patrol for counterfeits, he said.

"Can you spot a fake Omega watch?" Henn said. "I sure can't."

B- Sun-Sentinel: Chan Lowe.

C- Palm Beach Post: Communists!

Labrada was among thousands of Cuban-Americans flying to the island this week to celebrate the new year. These types of annual pilgrimages would have been sharply curtailed if two South Florida, GOP Cuban-American congressmen had succeeded in returning to the Bush-era limit of once every three years. The measure backed by U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and David Rivera was tucked into the congressional spending bill, but Republican leaders jettisoned it last week as part of a last minute compromise.

Labrada said Monday she didn't appreciate the effort to restore the old restriction.

"I think it was very disappointing, because the least we can do is help our own families," she said. "We should go and take advantage of the opportunity to bring them things and help any way we can."

[...]

Not everyone goes just to see family.

Gomez said his maintenance man just returned from a trip to Cuba to visit his dentist because he has no health care insurance in the U.S. and can't afford the visit here.

D- CBS4: Who needs Starbucks?

Over the long weekend, thousands of drivers will use the Turnpike to get to family or friends for the holiday. Some will leave very late or very early to get there in time. To help them stay alert, free coffee will be offered at the highways service plaza’s restaurants except Pompano Beach whose restaurants are closed for renovation; coffee will be available at the Shell station.

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A- You knew it was only a matter of time before the Burger Beast got his own ice cream sandwich. It has now arrived.

B- Images from the Green Parrot Bar Holiday Party.

C- There isn't a better time than a holiday weekend to take in some theater so it's fortunate that the South Florida Theatre Review has all the information you need to pick a show.

D- Sometimes Republicans can't get out of their own way as Bark Bark Woof Woof notes.



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