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Where Else Can You Ice Skate in 70 Degree Weather? Only in Tampa Bay this Holiday!
12/22/2011

There is no better time than the holidays for a place like Tampa Bay Florida. That may sound funny to those of you who grew up with a white Christmas, but when you take Tampa Bay, sprinkle it with twinkling lights, a handful of holiday festivals, and a lot of holiday cheer, you have a Florida Holiday Wonderland!

Below are just a few of Tampa Bay's events for the Holiday Season. Look out for the "Only in Tampa" notes, each one there to remind you that there are some things you can only do in Tampa Bay Florida.

Holidays at Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens
3000 E. Busch Blvd.
Tampa, Florida
Only in Tampa: Can you still ride roller coasters in the Winter!!
Talk about a rush! Riding the roller coasters, surrounded by Christmas shows and decorations. Get some of your best holiday shopping done in Santa's Christmas Workshop in Morocco. Last but not least, the ice show at the Stanleyville Amphitheater is not to be missed.

Chanukah in the Park
When: Tuesday, Dec 7 at 6 pm
Where: Old Hyde Park Village
1622 W Snow Ave., Tampa, 33606
A beautiful Hanukkah celebration in the park, complete with a Menorah lighting, kosher wine tasting, and latkes!

Tampa's Downtown on Ice
When: Remains open until Jan 2
Where: Curtis Hixon Park, 600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa FL 33602
Only in Tampa: Because you can actually enjoy ice skating when you're not freezing!
There may not be snow, but families can skate on an outdoor rink with real ice in the park. Each 90-minute session includes skate rental.

Christmas Tree Lighting at Shimberg Gardens
When: Thursday, Dec 9 at 5:00 pm
Where: 7606 Paula Drive, Tampa FL 33615
Only in Tampa: Can you appreciate a good tree lighting without freezing your fingertips off?
Live music fills the air with the voices of the 75 member Center Stage Singers of Morganwood Elementary school and others. Festive refreshments get passed around. Two trees light up the park. And then, Santa arrives with gifts for 300 kids!

Hillsborough River Holiday Boat Parade
When: Saturday, Dec 11 at 6:00 pm
Where: Lowry Park, 7525 N Boulevard , Tampa, 33604
Only in Tampa: A Boat Parade in December? Of course!
This annual parade in its 11th year is a much loved tradition with Tampa Bay residents. Kayaks, canoes, and traditional craft depart from the Lowry Park boat ramp - all decked out in Christmas lights.

Ryan's Rockin' Holiday Party
When: Thursday, Dec. 9 at 5:30 pm
Where: 1502 S Howard Ave., Tampa FL 33606
Have a really good time all while supporting a really good cause. This rockin' party, complete with music by DJ Felix, complimentary signature cocktails from Ketel One, hours d'oeuvres and a visit from Santa, benefits holiday wishes for children at Hillsborough County Department of Children's Services.


These events are just the tip of the iceberg (without the ice cold weather) for Tampa Bay this December. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you are during the holidays, it's who you're surrounded by and finding a place that you are happy to call home.

If you are looking for a Tampa Bay home, we would love to be the Tampa Bay Real Estate Agents who make that happen. If you are just looking for some advice on the best things to do this holiday season in Tampa Bay, we would be happy to help you there too. Reach out to us on our Team Chais Facebook page or contact us directly. Hope to hear from you soon. Stay warm!

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12/22/2011

A decade ago, Hannah Burns just wanted to make the summer league swim team in Lake City.

Her older sister, Heather, was a swimmer with the league and 5½-year-old Hannah wanted to join her.

To make the team, you had to be able to swim the 25 yards across the pool.

Hannah couldn’t do it.

“She was really upset about it, too, because I was on the team already,” Heather Burns said.

Heather said Hannah spent time swimming with her and her friends that summer and adjusted to the water.

read more

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Tough week for First Coast graduates at FSU
12/22/2011

This certainly wasn't the best of times for First Coast High School in the past six days.

The Bucs lost the Class 7A state championship game to Bradenton Manatee last Friday, 40-0.

The next day, it was revealed that former First Coast wide receiver Avis Commack, now a defensive back at Florida State, had been arrested for the theft of an iPad at the school's computer lab.

read more

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Hazing finally must stop at FAMU
12/22/2011

Rick Scott should have stayed out of it — for now.

This past week, Florida’s governor decided to weigh in on the hazing death of Robert Champion, a 26-year-old drum major at Florida A&M University, by calling for the suspension of its president —James Ammons.

read more

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Titans' Matt Hasselbeck OK mentoring the new guy
12/22/2011

As Matt Hasselbeck sees it, mentoring the Titans rookie quarterback, Jake Locker, is just part of his job.

After all, 13 years ago when Hasselbeck was a rookie, there were older quarterbacks who did the same for him. Even more recently, as he learned to be a starter when the Seattle Seahawks signed him in 2001, veterans helped him.

read more

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All-First Coast Swimming: Ryan Murphy ready to swim from Bolles to Olympics
12/22/2011

Ryan Murphy has been a dominant swimmer in his age group since he first qualified for the Junior Olympics as a 7-year-old.

By the time the 2016 Olympic Games roll around, the Bolles junior might be as recognizable a name in swimming as another dominating Ryan — six-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte.

“He’s the greatest combination of talent and hard work that I’ve ever seen in the pool, so if he puts his mind to it, he can [qualify for the Olympics],” said Murphy’s older brother, Patrick, a freshman on the Notre Dame swim team.

read more

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Your Morning Sift
12/20/2011

Good morning.

Well, I'm hoping that, with schools out and the holidays upon us, traffic will be a bit more bearable to and from work. And, no, I don't want to hear from you all who are home for two full weeks. Enjoy your morning Sift.

A- A guest poster at Eye on Miami maintains that an art museum is not the place to include donor's names.

Naming a city’s museum is not the same as naming a performance or sports center. It has significance far beyond the local area; it should be a name that pays tribute to the artists, not to the wealthy donors. In this case, the museum should be named for the city where the Museum is located -- where citizens paid dearly for it with funds and their precious park land.

B- Some Blogging Guy gives me reason to be happy I use Blogger to blog.

C- Attention aspiring defense attorneys everywhere: Roy Black is giving free classes on the internets.

D- Part Four of the Top 50 South Florida Songs for 2011 is up at Beached Miami while The305.Com links to the Top 50 Miami Rap Songs.

E- Obalesque has a few thoughts on the passing of Vaclev Havel.

F- Just another lone wolf...at Bark Bark Woof Woof.




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*cough*Fascism*cough*

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12/20/2011

James Taylor, Carolina In My Mind


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While it's not surprising that a Cuban-American hardliner like Diaz-Balart would be upset about the removal of such language, especially when they've proposed it, what is a bit surprising is that they would vote for the bill anyway. Which is exactly what Diaz-Balart did. Yep, joined hands with fellow South Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Shultz and voted "yea."

Sorta like saying how much you hate a certain restaurant and then going there for Sunday Brunch.

That's some outrage, Mario.

In fact, I'm thinking he's earned the new title, "Cuban-American Assuager-in-Charge."

Make sure you make a sign and wear it around your neck the next time you visit the Versailles,  Mario.




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A- See Carlos Miller drunk and check out Miami Beach 411's review of Kukaramakara, a Colombian restaurant/nightclub in Brickell.

Colombians would rather have their underage teenagers drink at home with family rather than on the streets with friends.

And it made sense considering my family would always take care of me when I got so drunk that I would pass out in my own vomit.

So when I celebrated my 43rd birthday last September at Kukaramakara, a Colombian restaurant/nightclub in Brickell, I wasted no time in ordering a bottle of aguardiente.

B- CSA Share Week #3 is here and Redland Rambles shows us what to expect in your basket.

C- Coconut Grove Grapevine has images from last night's SantaCon in the Grove.

D- Republican Allen West continues to demonstrate that he lacks the good judgment of a man serving his country and is unfit for duty...at Bark Bark Woof Woof and Eye on Miami.


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Eye on Miami
"Rebeca Sosa Thanks Eye On Miami and We Thank The Commissioner"

Eye on Miami's fight against absentee ballot fraud in Miami-Dade County pays off for them not only with the attention of the county commission but also with their 2nd Post of the Month honors from the SFDB Editors.

Let's check out how the Editors voted...

Here is some of the commentary that the Editors filed after they voted.

Ipanemic:

"Swampstyle. While the writing and content was excellent (and really, well done to Eye on Miami) from all of the nominees, I found the excerpts from the memoirs to be fascinating."

Blind Mind:

"I voted for the Rebecca Sosa article because I thought it was not only great blogging but also because I'm thankful that at least someone had the fortitude to stand up and call out the bullsh*t [Ed.] that takes place in the South Florida political system, regardless of how big or small it was."

South Florida Food and Wine:

"This month I went with the ever informative, ever eye opening...Eye on Miami. I always learn so much from reading "The Eye" and this post was no different; the only addition, their writing made a difference."

Random Pixels:

"I voted for Eye on Miami.

A blogger gets the attention of an elected official. It doesn't get much better than that."

South Florida Lawyers:

"Food for Thought takes my vote -- you know it's a good food post when you are immediately hungry upon reviewing and you make plans to eat there as soon as possible."

You can view all the nominees here and check out all the past SFDB Posts of the Month at the bottom of the right sidebar.

Congrats to Eye on Miami and thanks for the comments, Editors!


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A- Sun-Sentinel: It's beginning to feel a lot like...no, not really, but the tourists are happy.

Indeed, with the first official day of winter on Thursday, South Florida should enjoy glorious conditions most of the week with lots of sun, warm afternoons and little chance of rain. The start of the week also should be breezy.

Monday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with afternoon highs in the mid to upper 70s and evening lows in the mid 60s. Winds are expected to be out of the east and gust to more than 20 mph.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Because, really, what else is there to do at 4 AM?

Davie—
A 40-year-old man was reported in surgery early Sunday after he was shot in the stomach by his girlfriend, according to Davie police.

[...]

Kristi Ellis, also 40, said she was cleaning the handgun at 4 a.m. Sunday in a residence at 4224 SW 63rd Ave. when the weapon discharged. She called police, according to Chastain.

C- Sun-Sentinel: I give it 2 months.

Judging from its first-day crossing, the high-speed ferry linking Fort Lauderdale with the Bahamas holds promise for speed but faces hurdles on a route long fraught with problems, passengers said.

The Bahamas Express ferry company made Friday's first passenger trip in three hours each way, with customers asked to arrive at least 90 minutes before the trip and needing at least 30 minutes for immigration processing on arrival. That meant at least five hours from terminal entry to exit each way.

[...]

But the maiden voyage had its glitches. Passengers bristled at slow check-in in the Bahamas, a lack of ice and bottled water for sale on board and the ferry's duty-free shop not taking credit cards. Most vexing, Bahamians complained about lugging their bags up and down stairs, suggesting the ferry company add more ramps, especially for coolers toted to be filled with frozen foods in Florida.

D- Palm Beach Post: Life in South Florida.

WEST PALM BEACH — The traditional 100-watt light bulb is being phased out, and consumers are confused about what to buy as a replacement for the iconic household item.

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"Most people don't know what's going on," said Pedro Villagran, manager of Light Bulbs Unlimited in West Palm Beach. "I have people coming in who are freaking out. Some people think all bulbs will no longer be available."

E- Palm Beach Post: Yeah, but did he have a take-home car and a big pension?

WEST PALM BEACH — A man died this morning after being shot by an officer while trying to rob a McDonald's restaurant on Okeechobee Boulevard near Congress Avenue.

A homeland security agent walked into the restaurant at 2421 Okeechobee Boulevard just after midnight and shot the man as he was trying to rob the eatery, West Palm Beach Police Spokesman Chase Scott said.

F- CBS4: Life in South Florida, Part II.

According to Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes two neighbors were fighting in the 100 block of NW 56th Court when one of them grabbed a gun and fired a shot. The bullet, however, missed its intended target and instead grazed the arm of a 74-year old woman standing nearby.

G- NBC Miami: The Fins win but does anyone really care?

Bush rushed for a career-high 203 yards and his 76-yard TD run helped seal a 30-23 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in Miami interim coach Todd Bowles' debut after Tony Sparano was fired last week.

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A- Mike LaMonica has some tips for you if you're crazy enough to do something or go somewhere with Carlos Miller.

Once we went out with Jim Winters on the Jim Winters bus and we saw a hellacious hit and run car accident. Jim slammed on the brakes and Carlos flew out flip cam rolling right up into this gigantic guys face. The guy was the size of a half a house and threatened to give Carlos an enema with the camera. Carlos didn’t back down. He must be part hockey player because he’d lose teeth if it meant getting a story. To this day, I’m surprised I haven’t seen him spitting bloody Chiclets.

B- Justice Building Blog somehow manages to pair flashy South Florida lawyers and their extravagant holiday parties with the morbidly obese in one post...and it works.

C- Ain't much going on in downtown Miami on the weekends, as Swampstyle shows us.

On any given Sunday afternoon Downtown Miami is a ghost town, just a few obscure shops open for clueless tourists lured by cheap merchandise and luggage. Downtown street rhythm is mostly a mainstream tick-tock schedule of Monday through Friday 9am to 6pm.

D- It's Old School Sunday at The305.Com so there's a number of posts that take us back in time...including this one of some Air Florida flight attendants of the '70's.

E- Discourse shares some thoughts on the end of the Iraq War.

It’s clear to me that the entire affair was a major strategic disaster for the US, one entirely self-inflicted by the Bush administration. The war was prefigured when Bush moved half the US army to the Iraqi border. Having done so, he lacked the guts or the imagination to bring them home without attacking, but then the attack had always been his (and Cheney’s) intention. Bush-Cheney achieved their goal of killing Saddam Hussein, but as far as I can see got nothing of value to the US. Indeed, the strategic victor of the conflict was clearly Iran. There is even a plausible account that Iran manipulated the Bush administration into the conflict through its dupe, or even double-agent, Ahmad Chalabi. Regardless, the cost to the US in blood, treasure, and international influence, was and remains enormous.

F- The Reid Blog looks at what is driving an attack on Newt Gingrich by his own party.

It really depends on whether the two pillars of the right who oppose Newt: the corporate/Wall Street wing, and the “thought leader” wing, can bring him down, over the objections of the “talk radio listener/Ayn Rand” wing, which currently is the biggest mover of the party ideologically (with apologies to the Christian rightist wing.) And what that wing wants, as GOP strategist Mike Murphy pointed out on Meet the Press this morning, is not an “electable” candidate or even an intellectually or ideologically consistent one. They want one who will turn to Barack Obama onstage during a debate and call him a “Kenyan socialist” to his face. They want one who will spend the campaign attempting to publicly humiliate Barack Obama, and punish him for having the gall to get elected and take over “their” White House. Newt most definitely is that. If Romney isn’t that, will the tea party remnant let him get the nomination???

G- Your .gif of the day at Nikon Miami.


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