WHATTA COUNTRY!

                     Fun On The Fourth

  Here we are in Gainesville, a city that celebrates our country's birthday with...nothing.  Yes, the night before there's live music and fireworks on the UF 

campus but on the big day Hogtown is dead.

    I grew up in a small town next to the Miami airport. Miami Springs had a parade and all- day activities at the rec center. In the evening the city sponsored a small firework display.  We felt like we were very much a part of the nation's birthday celebration.

     Gainesville once had these traditions too but their parades and fireworks faded. "WUFT" is the University of Florida's radio/TV station.  With the city, they co-sponsor the July third event. I asked a WUFT spokesperson why they did not have it on the 4th.  She responded,

 WUFT’S "Fanfare and Fireworks" has been an annual event since the 90s. Originally, the City of Gainesville had events on July 4 so WUFT did its "Fanfare" event on the third. We billed it as a kick-off to the Independence Day activities the next day.  When the City stopped their activities years ago but we kept ours. We stayed with July 3 because the City of Alachua has a celebration on the 4^th. Some of the other municipalities do as well.

     This makes little sense to me.  Our City can't celebrate the Fourth on the fourth because the the cities around us do?  

       She wrote back with one more point, that fireworks are cheaper before the Fourth. If that's a good reason, we should be celebrating the New Year the day before New Year's Eve. Maybe Discount Santa should pop down the chimney on December 23d.

       Gainesville is dead on the Fourth of July.  I hope the city (which, again,  co-sponsors the July 3d "Fanfare" event) and UF move it to its proper day in the years to come. 

 

ATRIAS IN ACTION 

        We love our local Beatles cover band, "The Shoddy Beatles" *.  The Atria brothers, Travis and Eric,  play lead and bass guitars for this super-popular group.  Like most artists, they do other things as well. 

 

          Eric Atria is an attorney. He's been working as a public defender for the past twenty years. Eric is now running for judge.  I went to his campaign's kick-off at The Bull last week. He'll make a terrific judge.

          Besides being an extraordinary musician, Travis is a distinguished author and song writer.  He performed his latest album, "Juliet", at

Travis in song

The Lynx last Sunday.  It is a memorable collection of songs inspired by the works of another 

distinguished author, William Shakespeare.  It was a fantastic only-in-Gainesville event.

 

*The Shoddy Beatles sometimes refer to themselves as "The Shitty Beatles" and when they play their own music, "Morning Bell". 

        

  BLACK EYE FOR GAINESVILLE

    Gainesville was on the front page of Sunday's New York Times again ten days ago (the previous time, "gators in our sewers").  The article was about a UF law school student, Preston Damsky, winning an award for his paper supporting white supremacy.  Shame on the Trump-appointed federal judge, John L. Badalamenti, who chose Damsky's essay.  We need publicity like this like a hole in the head.

 

ART WALK 

On the last Friday of every month you can have a fine time going on Gainesville's Art Walk.  Seeing the latest at our downtown art gallerias you'll be amongst happy people and see surprising things. 

   

Last Friday I  started at the A. Quinn Jones Museum on NW 7 Avenue. 

 

 They had a display of  folk art created by local legends, Alyne 

"Chickens" by Alyne Harrris

Harris and sculptor Jesse Aaron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          Jesse Aaron's sculptures

   As an added bonus, local artist/art historian Turbado Marabou began a series of lectures on outsider art. 

Artist Turbado Marabou

   It was a terrific presentation that will continue next month.

 

Artist Sylvia McIntyre-Crook greeted visitors at the  Hippodrome Theater Gallery. 

Her current work reveals the beauty hidden in micro-nature. 

 

    I was about to head home when I spied a flyer beckoning me to the Thomas Center. It said there was live music and refreshments waiting at the "Art In Meditation" exhibit in the center's gallery. 

    Meditation usually puts me to sleep but, as I am attracted to music and free food,  I headed to NE Sixth Avenue. Gathered was a large, lively crowd. The Bill Rogers Trio was hot, no one was meditating and the art....interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

     Did I mention that this might be the last Fourth of July as we know it?  Things look grim as the Orange King takes over.

    The City of Gainesville may be asleep on Friday but two hundred of us will be protesting the king's rule at our "Kick Out the Clowns Rally".  Here's our flyer,  

  On Thursday and Friday our art team will be decorating the DNA Overpass again on SW 13 St. 

 

 

 

   If you happen to drive by this guy  give him a honk and thumbs up. It'll give him hope.

 

   If you want to celebrate our country's 249th birthday, head to Micanopy for their 11 a.m. parade on Friday. The City of Alachua has one too.

Fireworks on the Fourth?  They'll light up the sky in Keystone Heights, Alachua, Micanopy, Hawthorne, Newberry, Ocala, Williston, Trenton, Waldo and almost every other city but Gainesville. 

                         __________________ 

UP THE CREEK- MAY, 2025

 

      THIS MONTH'S NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS 

     Life continues to be good in Gainesville if you're able to ignore the daily destruction of democracy.  One day you might be gator gazing on Paynes Prairie and next, holding a sign, chanting "Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!", at a Main Street rally.

     

We live in tumultuous times.

    

 

To let off a little steam we had a couple of "empty chair" town hall meetings which our congressional

representative, Kat Cammack, chose not to attend. 

 

 

 

   I was in charge of the one at Heartwood a month ago. 

     

Gregg Jones moderated and our representative's chair was asked many challenging questions. Towards the end  Kat impersonator, Lucy Stein, took the stage. She made us laugh through our tears.

 

   Our chanteuse, Trish, along with me, Lucy, and Gregg.

 

 

 

The next protest will be the "No Kings March" on

Saturday, June 14th. To beat the heat it will begin at 9 a.m. at Bo Diddley Plaza then head east on University Avenue.

 

SNAKES ALIVE!

I was joining my wife in the kitchen a few weeks ago when

I noticed a snake slithering past.  As it was our back yard's rat snake, I found it to be more amusing than dangerous.   Snakes in the kitchen, one more reason why I love living in North Central Florida.

 

MARLIN THE MERMAN

When the grand kids visited last month we took them to Ichetucknee Springs.  As we approached I saw a half-man/half-fish lounging on the steps.

As he was fiddling with a go-pro camera I figured he wanted to record himself swirling in the depths.  I suggested that he give me the camera so I have the honor of filming his merman fantasy. Off we went.

 Afterwards he thanked me and said, "Look for me on Instagram!" 

 

ARTIST STUDIO TOUR

   Last weekend everyone had the opportunity to take

intimate tours of the studios of twenty local artists. What fun Francesca and I had meeting our creative neighbors in their paint-laden lairs.

     Here are a few things we saw

Printmaker, Leslie Peebles

 

 

 

 

 

Duck Pond Painter, Anthony Ackrill

 

This grand event, sponsored by the Gainesville Fine Arts Association, happens every spring. I hope you can be a part of it next year.

 

ONE MORE TOUR

    A group of local artists meets regularly to discuss

creating more space to show their work.  Our last gathering was the home of artist, Sylvia Mcintyre-Crook. What a treat it was to see her beautiful house and her creations inside.

Sylvia with a few of her paintings and sculptures.

 

 

 

ONE MORE BURN

     I just got my ticket to Burning Man. 

 

 In late August it'll allow me be to party with 80,000 of my best friends in the Nevada desert.

DANCING RETURNS

 

This week the New York Times proclaimed that dance parties are back. To prove it we had one in our living room last night.

 

LITTLE THINGS

Recently I visited my doctor's office for an ear problem.  The nurse asked me if there was anything else bothering me.

I pointed out a small pimple-like protrusion on my left hand and asked, "Could that be a wort?". When she took my hand in hers I saw her hands were covered with dozens of large warts.  As she muttered, "Looks like splinter problem", I felt as small as my pimple.

 

My wife tutors young kids with reading problems at a local school.  She told me she was bringing cookies to the end-of-the-year party.  When I asked, "What kind will you make?", she answered, "I'll buy them. They stopped allowing home-made cookies at 30 years ago".

 I'm told it has to do with evil and peanut butter.  Am I the last to know about this?

Two more questions: 

1) Should we spend a trillions to put people on Mars? Musk wants us to move there because he and his friends are destroying the Earth. One scientist's response: "Mars makes Antarctica look like Tahiti".

 

2) Am I having a bad dream or is Trump really the president? 

SO LONG JEFF

A truly wonderful man, Jeff Shapiro,

died last month after a long illness. His send-off ceremony at the United Church of Gainesville was as splendid as Jeff himself.

 

It was standing room only as the crowd heard kind words affirming the good life that the retired etymologist lived, and, the many good deeds that he performed.

Jazz and klezmer bands, along with umbrella'd dancers added to the fun.

 

Jeff loved music as much as bugs.  His clarinet melodies filled the air in many a band and in our annual Halloween parades.  

Outside thirty of Jeff's t-shirts hung on a clothes line.

 

 

One of Jeff's shirts

   During the service we were told we could have our pick afterwards. I chose the one with the bug band, "Fear No Weevil".

 

_____

 

 

  Our neighbors are messaging on SW 13 Street.

 

 

 

 

 

ENGAGING THE REPUBLICANS

                  UP THE CREEK 

     Glenn's Latest Newsletter, April 2, 2025

Dear Reader,

Photo by Eli Redmane

  Welcome to another edition of my monthly newsletter. 

We've much to be thankful for like this squiggly brown anole and the Rainbow Bridge beyond...but outside our city, the very foundation of our country is being shaken. You'll find a bit of this news, both good and bad, in the latest edition "Up The Creek".

 

 

 A SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND

At last Saturday's Tesla protest the Republicans were expected to come out in large numbers. Some friends and I saw this as an opportunity to engage them.

 

We made signs that were politically neutral, messages that they might agree with. 

 

THE EAST SIDE GANG

When we showed up at the Tesla dealership there were already a hundred Trump/Musk fans lined up with signs and flags.

THE WEST SIDE GANG

Across the street were more than a hundred Democrats protesting Musk, fascism, and Swasticars. After saying hello we crossed Main Street to talk with our flag-clad neighbors.

 

George Papadi discussing clean air

For the most part, the conversations went well. We'd introduce ourselves saying things like, "Good Morning.  Thanks for being here. I am a Democrat who supports clean air.  Do you?"

 

 

 WE REALLY DO NOT WORSHIP SATAN

We tried to find common ground with the Trumpers for 90-minutes. Gerrick, seen with me here,

admitted that Trump lies about everything but that's just his way to make this country "right".  He is still quite bothered by trans men competing with women and Hunter Biden's laptop.

"Democrats: Party of Satan"

 

Most of our conversations ended with handshakes. I walked away with a better understanding of why they worship the 47th president and the richest man in the world.

If any of you want to join us for "unique conversations with Republicans" let me know. We intend to have more of them at the future Tesla protests.

 

MID CENTURY HOUSE TOUR

     It was great fun to tour the houses featured on Gainesville Modern Weekend’s home tour last Saturday. 

     Most were located in our Florida Park neighborhood. Local restaurateur, Rodney Germain,

served delicious chicken sandwiches from his truck parked on NW 11 Road.

    

The final house we toured was that of the well-known surrealistic photographer, Jerry Uelsmann.

It was really "Jerry's Fantastic Art Museum", seemingly untouched since he passed three years ago.

Jerry at his desk ten years ago

Few people get to peek into private art collections like we did. Lucky us.

ART WALK

    The Last Friday Art Walk events are such a treat.

Sculpture by Sylvia McIntyre-Crook

It's a pleasure to see good friends and great art every month in downtown Gainesville.

 

City Church Gallery

Local artists' work is exhibited in 12 different locations. While most are art galleries others are bars and restaurants. The latest to open is the City Church Gallery  at 14 So. Main Street.  It's a big space with room for big art. 

"

FREE CONCERTS

We are amazed that so few people attend the outstanding free concerts at the UF's school of music. We enjoyed sound artist/throat singer, Ken Ueno's performance last Saturday.  He was out there, sort of like Bobby McFerrin on acid.

 

PROTESTS

    There are two on Saturday, April 5th. The usual one at the Tesla dealership from 10 to noon and the,

     The "Hands Off Protest" at Depot Park  begins at noon. Among other things, we're asking D.O.G.E. to take their maniacal hands off our federal agencies.

These gatherings are a chance to make some noise and to mingle with your compatriots. My wife and I attend 'em all.

 

 

CHATS WITH THE KAT

 

Would you like to share your complaints with Kat Cammack, G'ville's congressperson? 

She's been invited to two town hall meetings taking place in Gainesville this month.

My friends and I are putting the first one together at Heartwood Soundstage on

Wednesday, April 23. It'll takes place from 7-8 p.m. in the 125-seat "Listening Room".

To get us in the proper mood there will be a Happy Half-Hour at 6:30 on the patio. Moderator Gregg Jones will take your written questions then.

The Alachua County Democrats are sponsoring the second meeting on

Friday, April 25th, from 6 to 8 p.m. It will take place at the Upper

Room Ministries located at 3575 NE 15 St, Gainesville, FL,

32609. There should be plenty of room in the church's 900-seat auditorium.

While Ms. Cammack has been invited to both meetings she has not agreed to attend either one.  If she shows up, fine. If she chooses not to attend

the meetings will go on as "open chair" gatherings.  People can ask the

representative's empty chair their questions. Meetings like this often

result in meaningful discussions among those attending.

Both events are free and open to the public. Check the GWFD Facebook page for further information on the larger event. For more information on the Heartwood town hall meeting call me at 305 299 5607.

 

Our country is in big trouble. Let's ask tough questions, rally for truth, and continue the fight to preserve our democracy.

__________