An internet-based channel dedicated to the history, heritage and culture of the Sunshine State. Home of Olde Florida Network. We feature books, music and art of Florida.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Escalator to oblivion
If Florida and the globe continue business as usual, the report predicts, by 2050 tourism will decline, sea levels will rise 23 inches, insurance and electricity prices will soar and the economic cost to the state will be $92 billion. That is the conclusion of a report released Wednesday by Environmental Defense, as reported by the Miami Herald.
''We're on an escalator that's headed down,'' said Frank Ackerman, an author of the report. ``The status quo is not an option that is going to continue.''
Title of the report? Florida: The Costs of Inaction
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio is starting to complain about cost.
''We've already said no, but they're returning like zombies out of Night of the Living Dead,'' said a Miami-Dade county commissioner, who vowed to vote against any growth initiatives outside the development line. The Miami Herald reports that 18 months after they lost a heated battle to expand the Miami-Dade Urban Development Boundary, developers are back to try again. And again.
What part of "no" do they not understand?
A group called Hold the Line (a collection of environmental groups and conservationists) vows to fight back.
A town councilman in Miami Lakes (a member of Hold the Line) wasn't pleased. ''Urban sprawl -- building first and planning for services later -- has destroyed the quality of life for thousands of Dade County residents. They want to do this at the expense of schools, police, fire and gridlock traffic,'' he said, according to the Herald.
Go tree-huggers! Stop them before they build a 7-Eleven or a Walgreens on every available corner.
Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas [National Park Service]
Word comes from the Associated Press that the National Park Service is finally starting on a three-year, $6-million project to refurbish Fort Jefferson, the installation in the Dry Tortugas off Key West where Dr. Samuel Mudd was imprisoned.
Mudd was the physician who set John Wilkes Booth's leg after he broke it escaping after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. After Mudd was convicted of conspiracy and harboring a fugitive, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was sent to Fort Jefferson.
Reason for delay on the refurbishing project: a couple of busy hurricane seasons.
Curiously, the Associated Press article didn't mention anything about the Dr. Mudd connection.
Mudd always maintained his innocence. Although he knew John Wilkes Booth, he said he didn't recognize him when he and another conspirator showed up at Mudd's door at 3 a.m. after the assassination. The men used other names.
Mudd set Booth's leg and put splints on it and bandaged it up. Then he had his handyman make a pair of crutches for Booth, who then left with the other man.
Mudd tried to escape but he didn't get very far. He stayed in touch with his wife by mail. And his wife wrote to President Andrew Johnson asking for her husband to be released.
After Mudd had been in prison for a couple of years, yellow fever struck the island. The prison's physician died and Mudd took over helping the sick. He came down with the fever himself, but recovered.
His efforts to help people didn't go unrecognized. Soldiers from the fort signed a petition signed in support of Dr. Mudd. In 1869, after less than four years at Fort Jefferson, Dr. Mudd was released. President Johnson signed the order. He settled back on his farm and continued his medical practice.
Mudd died in 1883 at the age of 49.
The phrase "your name is Mudd" is widely believed to be a reference to Dr. Mudd. Some sources, however, suggest that the term was in use in England well before Lincoln was assassinated.
The British Web site www.phrases.org.uk references a 1823 book Slang- A dictionary of the turf etc. by John Babcock, in which the word mud is defined as "a stupid twaddling fellow. 'His name is mud!' ejaculated upon the conclusion of a silly oration ...' "
Welcome to the new Olde Florida Network program, FRIDAYS AT TEN. Below you will see video of the first episode. It is in three parts. Just click on each one in succession to see the whole program.
This program originates at MicklerSmith Florida BookTraders in the Old Northeast neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Florida. Each Friday beginning at 10 a.m. (more or less) we tape a program for viewing at this time. It is completely unplanned and unrehearsed. It is intended as a slice of life at the bookstore.
Okay, so the only concession we actually make to planning is that we invite our friends to stop by. Whether they do or not is up to them. So, in that sense, it IS unplanned. It is certainly unrehearsed. What you see is what happened. We try to edit out the boring stuff, like getting people hooked up with microphone. We don't want this to be home movies, do we?
On the other hand, we're doing this with hardly any overhead at all. That's because we don't have a budget to do this. We're just doing it. Thanks to the advances in technology on the Internet and in video production this is something that is possible to day but would have been cost prohibitive only a few years ago. We have the folks at YouTube and Blogger to thank for creating the delivery mechanisms that make this program a reality. And now that both of those entities are now under Google, we should thank them, too. Thanks!
Of course, if anybody happens to see this program over on YouTube, they'll also be treated to ads, and that's the name of the game for YouTube, so it works out, doesn't? We're just happy this kind of programming is possible today.
Obviously, this program isn't for everybody. We're truly in what Chris Anderson, editor of Wired Magazine, called The Long Tail. We know that. We know that we appeal to a very narrow audience, compared with the rest of the world. On the other hand, we think this very narrow audience is surely huge. Florida history, Florida culture and heritage. Florida music. Florida art. Heck, there ought to be plenty of people all over the world who have an interest in those subjects. If you're among them, you're in the right place.
If you find that you're a fan of all things Florida you can do two things to help us. One: tell your friends about Olde Florida Network and FRIDAYS AT TEN, and encourage them to tell their friends. And so on and so on. (Viral marketing at its best!) Two: If you're in the Tampa Bay area, drop by MicklerSmith Florida BookTraders to see us tape the show. It's a little chaotic but it's fun. Heck, you might even end up on the program.
Well, this is a longer introduction than we anticipated. Here's the first program. St. Petersburg singer/songwriter Pete Merrigan stopped in for this taping. We talked with him a little and he played some songs for us. By the way, the January-February 2007 issue of the Northeast Journal has a feature article that includes Pete Merrigan. Check it out!
(TO WATCH THE VIDEO: CLICK ON THE START BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM LEFT OF THE SCREEN. VIDEO PLAYS BEST WITH A HIGH-SPEED CONNECTION.)
In this final segment, the authors of Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Moviesdiscuss some of the stereotypical characters that appear in Florida movies. Susan J. Fernandez and Robert P. Ingalls watched more than 300 films set in Florida or dealing with Florida, noting the similarities, differences and the recurring themes that have appeared over the years.
Fernandez and Ingalls describe how filmmakers from the Marx Brothers and John Huston to Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola have portrayed the state and its people. Before the 1960s. cinematic trips to Florida usually brought happy endings in movies like Moon Over Miami (1942), but since the 1970s films like Miami Vice (2006) have emphasized the state's ugly underbelly.
The book features more than 100 still photographs from movies, as well as filmographies by year and genre. It is an encyclopedic resource for movie fans and anyone interested in Florida popular culture.
Susan J. Fernandez is professor of history at University of South Florida – St. Petersburg. She is the author of Encumbered Cuba: Capital Markets and Revolt (1878-1895).
Robert P. Ingalls is professor of history at the University of South Florida – Tampa. He is the author of Urban Vigilantes in the New South: Tampa, (1882-1936, and is coauthor with Louis Pérez of Tampa Cigar Workers.
(TO WATCH THE VIDEO: CLICK ON THE START BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM LEFT OF THE SCREEN. VIDEO PLAYS BEST WITH A HIGH-SPEED CONNECTION.)
This is another in the continuing conversation with Susan J. Fernandez and Robert P. Ingalls, authors of Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies. The authors teach history at the University of South Florida.
In this episode, the authors discuss their favorite Florida movies, independent filmmakers and Miami as the main location depicted in Florida films.
(TO WATCH THE VIDEO: CLICK ON THE START BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM LEFT OF THE SCREEN. VIDEO PLAYS BEST WITH A HIGH-SPEED CONNECTION.)
This is the third in a continuing conversation with the authors of Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies, Susan J. Fernandez and Robert P. Ingalls.
In this segment, the authors discuss the recurring themes and characters in Florida films that they discovered after watching more than 300 Florida movies.
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A script in this movie is causing Macromedia Flash Player 7 to run slowly. If it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive. Do you want to abort the script?
HERE'S HOW TO DEAL WITH IT: Click YES, then click the Refresh button on your browser. Then you can move on to the next video without interruption. It the message appears again, repeat the procedure.
There's probably a better solution. If anybody knows one, please tell us.
THEME SONG. The theme song you hear at the beginning of most segments on Olde Florida Network was written and performed by Tampa singer/songwriter Bobby Hicks. It is the title song from his CD I'm Florida and the Need to Say More.
WHY SO MANY PARTS? We keep each interview segment short so they'll be easy to download and can be watched quickly. We hope you enjoy them.
