Pelicans

The Best Gay Pride Photo of 2011

On your marks!

Saint Petersburg is always having some sort of walk, run, or cycling event to raise money for charity. This one was for police officers.

Pizza Wars: Gianni's NY PIZZA

The contender: Gianni's NY PIZZA

Style: New York

In your mouth: The sauce is slightly acidic. The pepperoni stands out and there's a slightly hot, peppery aftertaste.

The next day: The crust is stale, but I prefer everything else this way. It's sweeter, and more interesting.

Overall: There's nothing distinctive about it. It's good pizza and I can like it, but I can't love it.

Pizza Wars: Valentino's Little Italy

The contender: Valentino's Little Italy

Style: New York

In your mouth: The crust is thin but still chewy. Interesting texture underneath. There's a taste of oregano, and a saltiness that brings out the sweetness of the cheese.

The next day: The crust has held up but the flavor profile has shifted... spicy!

Overall: A light, fun pizza.

This morning:

Old books in an old building

It's the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair!



It was held in an old dance hall, which explains the lights and the disco ball.



At a book fair, everyone is judging the books by their covers, and everyone wants a book with pretty pictures inside. There's a mercenary feeling in the air. The items being sold are commodities, some behind glass and valued at thousands of dollars. And even if they weren't so valuable, many are so old you hesitate to pick them up. People ask the owners if it's okay. (It always is.)

Some people ask the proprietors obscure questions, to show how smart they are. Other people haggle. Everyone seems to be searching for something. Some people want certain types of books, other people have lists of specific books they are looking for. Most people are just browsing. But the serious people compare prices on their laptops and mobile phones.

Oddly, it's hard to find anything you'd want to read at an antiquarian book fair. Perhaps the best books were read so much they fell apart. Perhaps the best books aren't sold. What I did see was a lot of history, a lot of religion, and a lot of poetry (with a healthy dose of children's and cook books). The two easiest books to find were The Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and Pilgrim's Progress.



Here's what I bought:



It has an inscription which reads:

To Nellie,

A wedding gift from Lewis Campbell

January 1894

A winter's walk

The depths of winter

Climate Change Meets New Age Mysticism

Every year Saint Petersburg has a maze with lights around it for kids to walk through. This year they decided to give it a theme:

The labyrinth is The Pier Aquarium's free outdoor activity in South Straub Park for St. Petersburg's family-oriented New Year's Eve Celebration. Traditionally a labyrinth is used as a walking meditation or spiritual practice and we have adapted ours, built in the Classic 7 Circuit Pattern dating back some 4,000 years, to include an interactive educational science component on Climate Change. The walkers strolling the labyrinth will pass by (and hopefully read!) luminary bags decorated with environmental messages and the posted Climate Change information signs.

Critics of climate change theories have questioned the theories based on their apparent lack scientific rigor. Some critics think the people who tout climate change due so out of a belief system that deifies nature. So, imagine my shock to see climate change tied to an ancient religious ritual that deified nature.

Beyond the fact that this isn't a very inclusive event (I saw parents dragging their children away from it!) are signs on paper lanterns the proper format to have a vigorous debate? And don't think that's a facetious question, because one of the first signs literally asked "Does climate change exist?". This display pretended to debate the question. For five-year-olds.

Merry Christmas!

Tell it to the birds

Four views of the Saint Petersburg Christmas Tree

Fear of death: 1807

Hasty interment is still a prevalent custom in Russia; and even premature burials are said to be not quite unknown. A short time previous to my departure, the following horrid circumstance was related at St. Petersburgh...

--From La Belle assemblée--

You didn't just have to fear death, but getting sick enough that people would bury you anyway.

Fire

Composition of a pride parade

25% religious groups:







Pictured are the Quakers, Evangelicals, and Episcopalians; also marching were the Lutherans, Unitarians, and non-denominational churches. The Catholics didn't march, but they were in attendance.

25% politicians and political groups:









As you can see, there were plenty of politicians who sent people to march in the parade.

25% familiar household names:









Pictured are Best Buy, Raytheon, The Home Depot, and Walgreens. Also in attendance were Coca-cola, Pepsi, AAA, Progressive Insurance, esurance, Macy's, Citigroup, Bank of America, and some local businesses and other financial firms.

25% social organizations and bars:













This includes some sort of marching band substitutes:





And not officially part of the parade, but important to have around is some haters:



They had a lot more signs than people (they had between two and three people).

Oh, and top everything with plenty of rainbows: