Thinking

A few weeks ago I heard a song called Can’t Be Beat by Quiet Village and it got me to thinking.

Cool, Cool Summer…Now It's Gone.

This morning I looked up and thought to myself “Damn, its September already?” I know we’re like pretty much done with the month but time seems to be seriously in the fast lane right now.

Florida summers can be rather interesting due to the heat but this one was special. Summer of ’08 was straight up and down the shi…great!

Tampa

The crew and I headed out to Tampa to film about a dozen locations. Even though we had the Open Florida RV, there were places that it just couldn’t go so I did a lot of driving.

Our hotel was about 5 minutes away from International Plaza and that meant runs to Gelateria del Duomo for gelato were always priority one. Sugar shocked by our gelato experiences, Missy and I found ourselves screaming “GELATO” in moments of silence for no apparent reason. This usually made Steve cringe and that was the signal for us to do it again.

These guys were a bunch of characters who only spoke in pirate talk. They were all about the Gasparilla Pirate Festival and of course a picture op.

I caught up with Arturo Fuente Jr., President of Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Company and learned a thing or two about cigars.

The attic to the old cigar factory was perfect for smoking and taking pictures. Which cigar is that you ask? The A. Fuente Hemingway.

I also found a great deal of H.O.P.E. during the heritage shoot in south Tampa.

When it came time to film the progress of the Tampa Museum of Art we had to wear hard hats. We didn’t actually get to go on the work site because OSHA also states that it is a hazard to have shorts on at a construction site. So we did the interview outside their aluminum gates.

Forecasting the summer weather in Florida is pretty easy…HOT! Ice pops were essential for successful cool-downs. Missy and I would usually eat about 3 a session.

I had a chance to kick it with the Tampa Bay Lightning mascot ThunderBug! He had a field day on the RV before he got around to signing it.

We also stopped by Burn’s Steak House to film and grub. Burn’s has a wine cellar in their basement which is home to over 100,000 bottles, crazy.

When we got back to the Hyatt Place, Steve-O snapped a few practice shots.

Two Words, King Mogul.

Jungle Island

In Miami, there is a place called Jungle Island and it is home to this thing. This thing, is called a Cassowary. From what I understand from the safety speech I was given prior to filming, is that, this thing…this thing, will kill you if you ever see it in the wild. So if you’re walking down an open plane somewhere in Australia and you happen to cross paths with this thing right here, don’t even bother running. Just make peace with the experience of a turkey-ostrich looking animal with a prehistoric horn shredding you to pieces.

Those were all the thoughts on my mind after the tour guide wrapped his safety speech then put me feet away from the beast that loved to swallow apples whole.

This was also the summer where I issued many cool points to lemurs.

Ft. Myers

We filmed a bunch of fantastic hotels in the Ft. Myers area. Across the street from one of them was a little place called Cuban Tropical Grill. Of course I had to indulge in one of their signature mango smoothies

and then I ordered a sandwich.

Later that night, we hit the Waffle House (sober) for some breakfast and a variety of wild football stories from one of the locals. Yum.

Everglades Alligator Farm

Here is Alligator Bob breaking down the difference between a gator and a croc. They both have teeth and that’s all you really need to know about that.

Here is Bob’s assistant Jeanette the Reptile Wrangler giving her version of the whole gator and croc presentation. For some reason I liked hers a lot better.

Here is a shot of Jeanette hooking me up with an experience with with one of her snakes.

Years ago I would have been like “What? Hold a snake? Fug that!” Now after almost 2 years on the job I’m like “What? Hold a snake? Get the camera.”

Since Jeanette was such a good sport with the crew that we had her sign the RV.

No Everglades excursion would be complete without an airboat ride. Right?

The BBQ out in YBOR

What is a summer with out a BBQ?

At the birthday BBQ, the girls were really into this game called Taboo. I’m supposed to be paying attention.

What is BBQ without a nice dose of healthy laughter?

I was buzzin’ like crazy off MJ’s classic Piña Coladas and if it were possible, I’d be drinking one right now .

Stress

No summer is complete without a healthy serving of stress. I got a big spoon full toward the end of the season but I was on familiar ground so I knew exactly what to do.

At The Beach

Steve and I were brainstorming in the office one day and fun was the topic. Out of about 15 minutes of conversation we manage to come up with a concept called We Ain’t Bored. Pretty soon we got some co-workers, we got some props, and then we shot a video.

One of the videos we shot for the We Ain’t Bored concept took place at the beach.

Missy, Emilie, and Mo all showed up for a Sunday of fun in the sun on the beach. Don’t believe me? Here is the video: At The Beach

Kissimmee

We filmed Medieval Times a few months ago. The only thing I can remember about the show is a woman in a Native American costume riding a horse.

During our travels from destination to destination we ended up in Poinciana and found a little Caribbean jewel called Atty’s Restaurant for lunch. I had the jerk chicken and a bottle of my favorite grapefruit soda, Ting.

Family Reunion

Sometime around the 4th of July I drove with my aunt to Virginia to meet over 100 family members I didn’t even know I had till about a year ago.  Yeesh, it was pretty eerie how much we had in common too.

Here is an actual visual representation of what my family tree looks like on my father’s side.

My sister, my pops, and of course the kid.

I love my family.

My little cousin with the glasses has a name that I love…BROOKLYN!

My silly sister and I doing what we do best, clowning.

I caught this flick with my cousin Rush moments before he chased me through the family luncheon for a one on one game of basketball. I’ve been undefeated in every game that we’ve played since we were kids. Now that I’m grown and out of shape he is dying to play one last game. I’m retired and as it currently stands I’m the chickety chickety CHAMP! Chump.

My pops is a good sport.

I’m really missing my pops and sister as I try to think of a caption for this picture.

My uncle, my pops, and my little cousin.

I wonder what my pops just said to my uncle.

Well folks, it’s a wrap for me. It took me forever and a day to get this post out and hopefully the next one will be a lot sooner than 3 months.

Till Next Time,

Amon Focus

The Siesta Key Drum Circle

About a year ago I was flying back home to NYC and I met a gentleman on the flight only known as Freedom. After we completed our introductions, we got into the topic of music and some how or another the Siesta Key Drum Circle came up. The drum circle happens every Sunday at Sarasota’s own Siesta Beach. He told me to check it out and I’m kicking my self because it took me over a year to so. I took some pictures. Check it out:

Simmering Seaweed Eau De Toilette

La Chica and I headed out to Siesta Key in Sarasota to film two expert videos about snorkeling and beach safety. It was super foggy on my red eye commute from Bradenton to Sarasota but by the time we got to beach it was all cleared up. Garland stopped by to make sure we were off to a great start and brought us some Munchkins from Dunkin’ Donuts. It had been well over ten years since I indulged in these tasty pastries so I welcomed the nostalgia by eating three or four. We met with David our beach expert and then headed down to the water to begin filming. The first thing I noticed when we hit the beach was miles of piles of seaweed that had washed ashore from a storm earlier in the week. The second was a scent that I didn’t recognize but became quite familiar with by day’s end.

After we finished Dave’s introductions we ventured further down the beach to film at a specific part of the beach known as “Point of Rocks”. Point of Rocks was the ideal spot to get Dave snorkeling but there was a price. This portion of the beach was nestled behind a concrete wall that you had to either swim a very short distance around or shimmy on the provided walkway. Being that I had my tripod and camera I chose to get my shimmy on but there still two obstacles to overcome. The first was the scent that I mentioned in the above paragraph was now a stench. Once I shimmied my way to the middle of the walkway I was saturated in the smell of rotting seaweed (yuck). I quickly began to shimmy back to shore because one step further in the direction of such a stench would lead to the liberation of three or four Munchkins that I had been holding captive since the morning. Once back on shore David, La Chica and I began to reevaluate our plan of action. Simply shimming the wall wasn’t going to cut it.

Somehow we managed to make our way around the walkway and we were met with our second obstacle, water. We were so close. Point of Rocks was literally about 50 feet away but the water was too deep for me to bring the camera and tripod. I leaned over and took a few shot and we head back. Since the show must go on, we set up shot about a 1/2 mile down the beach and got the rest of our shots of Dave snorkeling. I even got knee deep in the ocean to get closer to the action.

Aside from the seaweed problem, I thought shoot went great. Believe it or not that beach is so beautiful I’d do it again in a heart beat. David was super cool and easy to work with. Doing multiple takes in the hot sun can be draining but Dave’s a trooper.

La Chica and I scaled the rest of the beach for b-roll , interviews, and sound bites then headed back to the base.

Till Next Time

Amon Focus