Game of Galleons
One of the aggravating things about living where I do is that whenever there is a special event there is little to no publicity for the event. Everything is top secret and you have to practically be a super sleuth or Forrest Gump your way upon it by pure accident.
Case in point: Viva Florida 500. This year is supposed to be the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de Leon's discovery of Florida and there are allegedly events throughout the year to celebrate. You would think that this would be a kinda big deal, no? I mean 500 years is a pretty big milestone, right? Well, you'd be sadly mistaken if you thought that there'd be a lot of interest and hoopla. I haven't seen a damn thing about any of it on any of the local news stations. They're too busy promoting Urban Douchebag Week, I guess. That's WAAAAY more important than some boring historical shit!
Anyway, I can't recall where I saw the original article, maybe it was in the free newspaper they toss in the yard every few weeks, but what caught my eye was that there was a replica of Ponce de Leon's galleon touring the state. It had set sail from Puerto Rico and was making several stops in Florida. As a big history buff, this greatly interests me. I also love those big old wooden ships--very Pirates of the Caribbean! So, in typical fashion, when I actually tracked down the schedule, it had already made it's stop in Miami (not a peep on the news) and is in Ft. Lauderdale this weekend.
From what I gleaned from several sources around the internet, there were only a limited number of tickets available for the Miami appearance and they sold out within minutes. Now how anyone knew they were even on sale is beyond me. They must have been insiders who knew some muckety-mucks at the Tourist and Visitors Bureau. The Ft. Lauderdale appearance is a bit different. They aren't charging for tickets, but they aren't making it easy to get them. The ship is docked at the Bahia Mar Marina by the beach, but you have to go all the way to Downtown Ft. Lauderdale to the Visitors Bureau which is located in a nondescript office building, go up to the second or third floor, say some magic words, know the secret handshake, and hope there's some tickets left. Everything always has to be a wild goose chase to do anything in this town. I'm pretty sure it's deliberately meant to be discouraging just like the hoops you have to jump through if you want to tour a ship during fleet week.
So therefore, as much as I like history and historical things and big ol' replicas of old ships, I will not be seeing it in person. So I'll offer you a picture that I snagged off the intertoob and another one of when I was just a wee Xul and I was having a good time at the old Spanish fort up in St. Augustine.
Case in point: Viva Florida 500. This year is supposed to be the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de Leon's discovery of Florida and there are allegedly events throughout the year to celebrate. You would think that this would be a kinda big deal, no? I mean 500 years is a pretty big milestone, right? Well, you'd be sadly mistaken if you thought that there'd be a lot of interest and hoopla. I haven't seen a damn thing about any of it on any of the local news stations. They're too busy promoting Urban Douchebag Week, I guess. That's WAAAAY more important than some boring historical shit!
Anyway, I can't recall where I saw the original article, maybe it was in the free newspaper they toss in the yard every few weeks, but what caught my eye was that there was a replica of Ponce de Leon's galleon touring the state. It had set sail from Puerto Rico and was making several stops in Florida. As a big history buff, this greatly interests me. I also love those big old wooden ships--very Pirates of the Caribbean! So, in typical fashion, when I actually tracked down the schedule, it had already made it's stop in Miami (not a peep on the news) and is in Ft. Lauderdale this weekend.
From what I gleaned from several sources around the internet, there were only a limited number of tickets available for the Miami appearance and they sold out within minutes. Now how anyone knew they were even on sale is beyond me. They must have been insiders who knew some muckety-mucks at the Tourist and Visitors Bureau. The Ft. Lauderdale appearance is a bit different. They aren't charging for tickets, but they aren't making it easy to get them. The ship is docked at the Bahia Mar Marina by the beach, but you have to go all the way to Downtown Ft. Lauderdale to the Visitors Bureau which is located in a nondescript office building, go up to the second or third floor, say some magic words, know the secret handshake, and hope there's some tickets left. Everything always has to be a wild goose chase to do anything in this town. I'm pretty sure it's deliberately meant to be discouraging just like the hoops you have to jump through if you want to tour a ship during fleet week.
So therefore, as much as I like history and historical things and big ol' replicas of old ships, I will not be seeing it in person. So I'll offer you a picture that I snagged off the intertoob and another one of when I was just a wee Xul and I was having a good time at the old Spanish fort up in St. Augustine.
posted by Xul at 6:37 PM
6 Comments:
Everything is top secret
Isn't there a local newspaper that people can read and find out about local stuff going on?
Urban Douchebag Week
Is that a real thing or...?
deliberately meant to be discouraging
Seriously? Why would anyone do that?
Pity you can't actually go see the ship for real. Maybe next time?
Isn't there a local newspaper
There are two big local "news" papers--The Miami Herald and the Sun Sentinel--which hardly anyone reads. Hence, the Herald started delivering free ones every few weeks to entice peeps to get their paper. I suppose I could look at their online sites but who really does that?
find out about local stuff going on?
When I used to work in Ft. Lauderdale, the place where I worked used to get all sorts of the local indie freebie papers delivered down by the security office and they usually had calendars of events in them. Which proves my point that you have to know where to look to find out what's going on around town.
Is that a real thing or...?
It's actually Urban Beach Week where all the black people go to South Beach for Memorial Day weekend to walk around with attitudes and get into fights and have shootouts.
Seriously? Why would anyone do that?
To exclude certain "elements" from coming. Ft. Lauderdale is a very elitist place. They chased out the Spring Breakers decades ago. They'd rather not be inconvenienced by throngs of unwashed peons than have all the tax revenue that they bring.
Maybe next time?
I don't know that there will be a next time. :/ I hope so.
Speaking of upcoming events, I see that there's something called "Parkfeest" happening this coming Friday in your town, Arekino. And Golden Earring is playing! Holy shit! They've been touring for like 50 years! Are you planning to check any of that out? ;P
Are you planning to check any of that out? ;P
Some of it, maybe. The music is free on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, I won't have to buy a ticket for that. I've gone there in past years. It's okay, I guess. Not super special.
Have you ever been to a concert? Have I ever told you about that concert festival I went to in Breda?
I just can't believe that Golden Earring is still playing live concerts. They've got to be OLD!!! Do they push them out in wheelchairs? LOL
Have you ever been to a concert?
Sure. There used to be a series of concerts put on by the City of Ft. Lauderdale in one of the parks. I've been to a couple of those. No one famous, though. Just various genres--all local bands. The best concert I've ever seen was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. When I was a kid, I saw Dolly Parton at the county fair.
Have I ever told you about that concert festival I went to in Breda?
No, I don't think so.
In other news, I GOT MY DEAD POOL WINNINGS IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!! And it is SUPER WICKED COOL!!! I will be doing a post!
No, I don't think so.
Okay, let's see, this was about five or six years ago. I was still working cleaning the streets in those days and a female colleague and her boyfriend invited me go to with them to this summer music festival in Breda. I agreed to go.
So, next Saturday evening I took the bus to Breda and walked from the bus station to the park where the concerts were. I didn't see my hosts at first because it was very crowded. A half hour later we met up at a stage where a reggae band was playing.
We proceeded to visit the different stages and bands playing there, including one heavy metal band that had a bunch of enthusiastic fans "dancing" in what is apparently called a "mosh pit". Surprisingly, I still had a good time there.
At some point after that, my colleague got into an argument with her boyfriend and he decided to go home alone. I decided to stick around till the end of the festival.
Near the end my colleague met up with some friends and, apparently, her brother. They invited me along with them to where they lived. This place was a large building that used to be a convent. A lot of musicians, students and perhaps ex-homeless people lived there. So, we settled there for some drinks and chatted away.
Time passed. I noticed that at that late hour there were no buses to go home in. No matter, I could stay the night in the ex-convent. There was a spare (obviously used) mattress and some clean-ish sheets and a spare room to sleep in all by myself. The others had their own rooms.
The next morning I woke up in the silent building. I couldn't find my colleague anywhere so after a brief visit to the only working toilet I left. I took the bus home and arrived there sometime around twelve o'clock.
I will be doing a post!
Looking forward to it! :)
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