Step off Burn Notice!

 I can't believe it has taken me a week to get this down!  Last week I was at Michael's Crafts waiting in line for one of two registers.  Then, another cashier announces that she'll take the next person in line.  I hate this.  I somehow always get screwed.  However, she made eye contact with me and waved me over, so I begin to walk over and this guy in hat and sunglasses saunters ahead of me.  To his credit, he did not have a clue about me and the cashier's pre-arranged agreement.  But the cashier was about to let me down!  She looked at me and then looked at him....and I knew she was not going to take action, which required me to do so.

"Excuse me, she just called the next person in line and that's me.  Thanks." and I plunk my 2 items down.  He just drawled a "Well, alright."  Yeah, I asserted myself!  I'm trying to hurry up and pay since I kinda felt like a bee-yotch by being so bold. 

The cashier meanwhile begins to ask the guy, "Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Johnny Depp?" 

The guy replies, "No, I've never heard that one."

"Are you sure?"

Well, now I have to take a look at this character since I think I'm pretty good at pinpointing what celebrity you most closely resemble.  Oh lordy.  He resembles a celebrity because HE IS A CELEBRITY!!!  I just told Burn Notice's (interestingly known in Brazil as Operação Miami)
Michael Westin (his true name is Jeffrey Donovan) to step off!!! 

The hat and sunglasses could not hide his strong jaw, that usually looks perpetually clenched, and as he continued to assure the cashier that he did not resemble Mr. Depp his voice was also unmistakable.  On the show, his character usually sounds annoyed as explains the ins and outs of a proposed operation to whatever hapless individual has gotten themselves into trouble.  Yep, he sounds like that in real life.

Now, I'm practically snorting and giggling at the fact that the cashier is still trying to convince Donovan/Westin of his celebrity doppleganger-ness!  I suppose his girlfriend guessed that he was getting too much attention and proceeded to shower him with hugs and kisses. (Calm down honey, we know he's taken.)  And also remind him to use their Michael's 40% off coupon!  They use coupons!

He was a little scruffy as he appeared unshaven, but he's taller than I imagined (he's at least 5'11" MAYBE 6' which is pretty tall for Hollywood).  Trust me, he may look slim on the show but he's even slimmer in person.  They aren't kidding when they say the camera adds 10 pounds.   

Believe me, I soooooo wanted to get a pic with my iPhone, but I felt awkward particularly because I am not smooth with the app.  I know this was a special moment for Donovan/Westin as well since celebrities are always claiming that they just want to be treated like everyone else! Right?

Rubbing elbows with "Royalty"

Kevin and I attended the Chivas Brotherhood event since it combined  some of our favorite things: free event, free alcohol and checking out a Miami penthouse.   Kevin had his beverage on the rocks.  I tried their version of Blood & Sand martini (3/4 oz Scotch whisky; 3/4 oz rosso vermouth; 1/4 oz cherry brandy and 1 1/2 oz orange juice) which was delicious.  It was relaxing on the rooftop with our drinks (free!), beautiful view of the city lit up at night while enjoying our cigars.  The penthouse was beautifully decorated by Chivas with personalized Chivas items included in the decor, like poker chips, the lights you see in the background and beautiful leather barstools (like butter I tell ya!) with the Chivas lion in doorknocker form on the back of the barstool.

 

Mario, the host of the event in Miami til the end of the month, told us some very interesting tidbits about Chivas whisky's history. Not sure if any and all of the following are true, but interesting....

• During Queen Victoria's rule she granted a Royal Warrant for the Chivas Brothers to provide her with continued goods.
• All royality in Britain have a designated blend made by Chivas in their honor.  Sometimes these blends are then made available to the public.  So who do you think will age better William or Harry?
• Chivas Regal is number one scotch/blended whiskey in South Korea.
• This was Frank Sinatra's preferred drink.

Not quite Hoarders, but....

Oh Lordy help me.  THIS is our living room for the next couple of weeks?!  Do we really have this much crap?  AND we took at least 25 boxes to storage already!!!!  Alright, alright, I guess it is time to purge.  Luckily, Kevin made it a priority to hook up the cable and TV so I can have some "company" while I work through this project.  Thanks honey! 

Maybe I should watch a few episodes of "Hoarders" for some inspiration or maybe some HGTV for home organizing ideas...or maybe the "Project Runway" season 4 marathon...um yeah, the boxes may take longer than I thought......

Miami Hollywood Colliding

This week during me and Kashmir's daily sojourns, we ran across not one but TWO TV crews in downtown Miami filming!!!  Really exciting watching TV shows being filmed, right?  Nope. Lot of hurry up and wait.  Alas, I did not catch a glimpse of Michael, Fiona or Sam on site.  However it was interesting that they set up "Alice's Cafe" in an abandoned shop and made it look workable for that scene.  However, if Alice's Cafe was really set up in that location 90% of her customer base would be the homeless population as that seemed to be the mainstay for that neigborhood once the tv crew departed.

Kashmir was really exasperated with the "Burn Notice" crew as they a) took almost an hour to set up a car chase scene (which lasted all of 15 seconds) and b) that I made her sit there with me and watch it all.  These are the pictures of the crew setting up the stunt driver for a "speed test" where there was some "explosion" at the end.  We weren't allowed to peek around the corner from our observation area for safety and shooting reasons (i.e. we would be in the frame), so I'm not sure if the car had a blow out or they used the CO2 tanks to make the car "erupt".

Also, "Magic City", a TV show slated for release in 2012 (see more here ) was also filming using some great historic locations in downtown Miami like the DuPont building.  They trotted out some era appropriate cars as well!

Have Pup Will Travel

It looks like Floridians also like to bring their pups

with them EVERYWHERE, even on the back of their motorcycles!  So blows the pup in the purse out of the water.  This is some serious commitment for wanting your dog to be with you at all times!

Fun, fun, fun in Downtown!

So, now that we are in our "permanent" digs in Miami, Kashmir and I have begun exploring our neigborhood!  Miami definitely has its own flare.  Take for example the smokin' hot gentleman above that we met one morning.  He is totally rockin' THE color for this season (coral) and in linen!  I didn't know how to say "Blue Steel" or "Magnum" in espanol to specify how he describes his look.



And, the performing arts here in Miami have the luxury of Bombay Sapphire being one of their benefactors.  And within walking distance of us!  Can't wait for the season to start!

Camel Racing!

It was a bit of a drive outside of the city. It seemed more legend than an actual weekly event. The Kuwait Camel Racing Club in Kebd races every Saturday from October to March (inshallah) starting at 1400 hrs. The track is approximately 10 km around. The start for each race changes depending on the length of race. The noise you hear at the end of the clip is the sound of the whip that is operated by the little robots that are the "jockeys." It was interesting to view a Kuwaiti bedouin tradition!. The trucks driving alongside are the operators for the jockeys who have to stay within sight of the camel. No betting is allowed, so there were no trifectas or boxes that we tripled our money on.