Still trying to reason with hurricane season in Tampa, FLA. I spotted this t-shirt in a window of "Ybor City," a historic area of Tampa similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans. Ybor City, I learned at the official museum, was founded by a Cuban cigar manufacturer who, in the late 1800s, got fed up with the government there and moved his operation to the outskirts of Tampa. It became the top hand-rolled cigar place in the USA and also was a melting pot for Cuban, Italian and other cultures and music.
These days, it's got a sexy streetscape, with bars, stores, a trolley (actually on tracks; not just a bus dressed up to look like a trolley), an "Improv" comedy place, and heavy metal and blues clubs. And places to buy hand-rolled cigars (I'm bringing some back!).
Here's one part of Ybor City I had to photograph:
But life continues at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River. For example, last Saturday we hosted Melanie. One of my deputy photographers, Kris the Metal Queen, snapped this one of Melanie and her son the sideman:
Tuesday night I was once again at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa (please see earlier blog entrys). I saw the Chris McCarty Band, which mixes reggae, pop, rock, folk, and soul. I liked them so much I reached my claw into my pocket and found a ten spot to buy their CD "Dreaming in Stereo." Here's a photo of Chris in action:
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