Motss.con XXIII Proposal
Sim Aberson
Proposal for soc.motss.con
Miami and the Beaches, FL
30 April-04 May, 2010
The con will be held in and around Miami from Friday, 01 May, to Sunday,
03 May, with pre-con foodie events on 30 April, and stragglers events
Monday, 04 May. The time was chosen as a compromise between the
relatively cool weather of the dry season and the relatively quiet and
inexpensive times of the rainy season. Normal tempertures in Miami
Beach during this time are 84/70 (high/low). Though the rainy season
begins at the end of the month, some showers are a possibility.
Miami is a good gateway to travels locally (Key West, the Everglades,
Bicayne National Park, Orlando theme parks), and international (the
Caribbean and central and south America). Miami is very easy to reach
from nearly everywhere in the world with Miami being the largest
entrance point for international travelers into the US. Both Miami and
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport are convenient for domestic travelers,
with the latter served by multiple low-cost airlines. Miami is also
accessible by train, cruise ship, and automobile.
Miami has an extensive though erratic transit system. Some of the
events will be accessible mainly by car.
Tentative schedule. For example, the food day is early (compared to
most cons), so if there is interest in moving the food events to
Sunday, we can rejigger things. The only events really set in stone are
the traditional Thursday night motss.food event and the Sunday dim-sum
brunch.
Pre-con motss.food day, Thursday 30 April:
The daytime will be taken up with a food-intensive tour of the farmlands
of Miami-Dade County. A motss-food dinner will be held during the
evening. Specific events may include:
1. The Fruit and Spice Park (http://fruitandspicepark.org/). This is a
public county park that exhibits more than 500 varieties of fruits, nuts
and spices including 80 types of bananas, 125 different mangoes, 40
types of grapes, and 70 varieties of mango. Visitors can sample fruits
and vegetables that are available.
2. Robert Is Here (http://www.robertishere.com/) is a fruit stand that
just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Robert, the owner, first opened
it when he was 6 years old. They are famous for the large varieties of
tropical fruits on sale in season from their own farm. The highlight is
the amazing tropical fruit milkshakes.
3. Schnebly Redland's Winery (http://schneblywinery.ning.com/). Stop
for a wine tasting of tropical fruit wines made at the winery. Types
include mango, guava, passionfruit, carambola, lychee, and avocado.
4. motss.food dinner, place TBA
Day 1: Cons are hard; let's go shopping! Or at least looking at the
loot..
Miami hosts two amazing sites that are tributes to their founders'
respective abilities to shop. We will visit one site in the morning and
one in the afternoon.
1. Villa Vizcaya (http://www.vizcayamuseum.com/) was the winter
residence of James Deering of International Harvester from 1916 until
his death in 1925. Deering and his lover Paul Chalfin traveled Europe
and bought entire rooms from European landmarks to be assembled in
Miami. The result is an Italianate palazzo that looks as if it had been
lived in for centiries, with each generation renovating a part of the
estate. As Deering left no direct heirs, his nieces eventually sold the
estate and all its contents to the county for a pittance. The house and
gardens are shown nearly as they were when Deering lived there.
2. The Wolfsonian (http://www.wolfsonian.org/) is a museum devoted to
design and the propaganda arts from 1880-1945. Mitchell Wolfson, Jr.,
the flamboyant founder, spent his inheritance from his family's local
media empire by traveling the world in his own train, and bought huge
amounts of, well, stuff. The result is this museum that can only show a
tiny portion of the holdings, now owned by Florida International
University, but that is widely considered the most comprehensive museum
of its type in the world.
3. Official opening night dinner/party TBA
Day 2: Touring
A day to relax and tour Miami. Events can include:
1. Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens
(http://www.fairchildgarden.org/) has a very large collection of palms,
cycads, flowering trees and vines, and is one of our favorite places to
visit. One highlight is the statue of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas in the
palmetum.
2. Historic tour of South Beach - Segway, bicycle, and walking tours
will be available.
3. The Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach (http://www.holocaustmmb.org/)
was the first such memorial in the U.S. to specifically remember LGBT
victims of the holocaust. This can be done as part of the South Beach
tour.
4. Sitting at the beach or the pool.
Day 3: The finals
1. Traditional Dim Sum Brunch TBA
2. Free time if anyone has a special interest.
Post-con 04 May:
Straggler's breakfast (TBA)
--
One day, the wind blowed so hard, it blowed a well up out of the ground;
blowed so hard, it blowed a crooked road straight. Another time it
blowed an' blowed, an' scattered the days of the week so bad Sunday
didn't get around 'til late Tuesday mo'nin. - The WPA Guide to Florida
JTEM
Question:
On Jan 3, 9:45 am, aber...@panix.com (Sim Aberson) wrote:
> Proposal for soc.motss.con
> Miami and the Beaches, FL
> 30 April-04 May, 2010
Why lavish Florida with Gaycation dollars instead of a
more overtly gay-friendly state?
Shouldn't we be concerned with all these negative
incentives -- rewarding homophobic states at the
expense of states which treat you as equal?
http://gaylife.about.com/od/samesexmarriage/a/legalgaymarriag.htm
Kathryn
>
> Why lavish Florida with Gaycation dollars instead of a
> more overtly gay-friendly state?
>
> Shouldn't we be concerned with all these negative
> incentives -- rewarding homophobic states at the
> expense of states which treat you as equal?
Feel free to post your own proposal
JTEM
Kathryn <pi...@pacifier.com> wrote:
Is there something wrong with a discussion centered on
the facts here?
And it is a fact that gay people aren't powerless. Gay
people CAN influence things. And, one way to go about
doing that would be to economically reward states which
recognize the rights of gay citizens at the expense of
states which do not.
It's called "Voting with your dollars."
Lee Rudolph
>And it is a fact that gay people aren't powerless. Gay
>people CAN influence things. And, one way to go about
>doing that would be to economically reward states
and Districts!
>which
>recognize the rights of gay citizens at the expense of
>states which do not.
>
>It's called "Voting with your dollars."
...albeit without Representation.
But, seriously, having been persuaded (against my original
judgment) to re-view _Mr. Smith Goes to Washington_ last
night (and having concluded that the only way to improve
it would be to splice in some of Jimmy Stewart's scene
as an unraveling psychopathic serial murderer in _The
Thin Man Goes Home_), I ask "Why not Washington, D.C.?"
Kevin (et possible alia: my bump of geographical association
is failing me), what do you say?
Lee Rudolph
JTEM
Lee Rudolph <lrudo...@panix.com> wrote:
> JTEM <jte...@gmail.com> writes:
> >And it is a fact that gay people aren't powerless. Gay
> >people CAN influence things. And, one way to go about
> >doing that would be to economically reward states
>
> and Districts!
Good point.
> But, seriously, having been persuaded (against my original
> judgment) to re-view _Mr. Smith Goes to Washington_ last
> night (and having concluded that the only way to improve
> it would be to splice in some of Jimmy Stewart's scene
> as an unraveling psychopathic serial murderer in _The
> Thin Man Goes Home_), I ask "Why not Washington, D.C.?"
>
> Kevin (et possible alia: my bump of geographical association
> is failing me), what do you say?
Good idea.
Though my intention was not so much to "Shout Down" the
suggestion of Miami as to force some debate on the very
serious (and important) issue regarding homos and their
power.
Choices do matter, even if nobody is forcing a choice.
Arne Adolfsen
> Though my intention was not so much to "Shout Down" the
> suggestion of Miami as to force some debate on the very
> serious (and important) issue regarding homos and their
> power.
>
> Choices do matter, even if nobody is forcing a choice.
So let's do the motss.con in Tierra del Fuego where
we can all get married to each other and to the
locals and do a lot of, as Dennis L. would say, c*ck
s*ck*ng and *ss f*ck*ng under the near-Antarctic
moon.
My big decision this week is where to go for lunch
with the bf on Tuesday. Bistro LQ is out since it's
not open for lunch, but the bf does love eating
rabbit and Jonathan Gold did just name Laurent
Quenioux's hare stew one of the 10 best dishes of
2009: "his stewed hare is spectacular, adulterated
with maple syrup and cotton candy perhaps but
tar-black and reeking of autumn, laced with thin,
slippery lozenges of jelled blood, a dish with
swirling, mysterious depth." Is that my tummy I
hear rumbling? With hunger?
Or we could go to "Top Chef" winner Ilan Hall's
first LA restaurant, The Gorbals, which serves
flights of fanciful Scottish-Jewish food (the place
is named after Glasgow's Jewish ghetto,
apparently). So why not dine on bacon-wrapped matzo
balls? Or smack our lips over haggis meatballs in
chicken broth? Pork belly braised in Manischewitz?
Why of course, I'd be delighted. I guess the only,
well, one of the only, problems with that is that
the restaurant is in the lobby of a partially
renovated hotel in downtown that used to rent rooms
by the week to people with vouchers and they're
having el gigante problemos with the el bed buggoes
that just won't go away.
I suppose we could go for stewed goat meat tacos
somewhere, but that seems so, I don't know, Lindsay
Lohan. "Like, I'm over it, 'kay? Like, get that
fucking camera out of like my fucking face you like
motherfucker! Gimme a drink, Pablo, 'kay? And like
a burrito, 'kay?"
Oh, these decisions. They're driving me mad.
Arne
Kevin Michael Vail
Lee Rudolph <lrud...@panix.com> wrote:
> But, seriously, having been persuaded (against my original
> judgment) to re-view _Mr. Smith Goes to Washington_ last
> night (and having concluded that the only way to improve
> it would be to splice in some of Jimmy Stewart's scene
> as an unraveling psychopathic serial murderer in _The
> Thin Man Goes Home_), I ask "Why not Washington, D.C.?"
>
> Kevin (et possible alia: my bump of geographical association
> is failing me), what do you say?
Well, we did Washington in 1995 and at least one long-lasting .motss
romance resulted, so why not? However, I honestly don't have time to
put a proposal together or conduct one, at least not by myself, so
someone else in this area would have to raise their hand.
(Who *is* still here? Astroboy, who else? [I should probably put this
on the Facebook group.])
--
Kevin Michael Vail� � | I would rather have a mind opened by wonder
ke...@vaildc.net� � � | than one closed by belief. � -- Gerry Spence
Kathryn
> Kathryn <pi...@pacifier.com> wrote:
> > On Jan 3, 9:43 am, JTEM <jte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > Why lavish Florida with Gaycation dollars instead of a
> > > more overtly gay-friendly state?
>
>
> Is there something wrong with a discussion centered on
> the facts here?
The point is, we vote on where to go based on the proposals we get
from people willing to organize. If you want to go somewhere other
than Florida, feel free to step up to do the work. Otherwise, the
discussion will not result in action.
JTEM
Arne Adolfsen <adolf...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> JTEM wrote:
> > Though my intention was not so much to "Shout Down" the
> > suggestion of Miami as to force some debate on the very
> > serious (and important) issue regarding homos and their
> > power.
>
> > Choices do matter, even if nobody is forcing a choice.
> So let's do the motss.con in Tierra del Fuego where
> we can all get married to each other and to the
> locals and do a lot of, as Dennis L. would say, c*ck
> s*ck*ng and *ss f*ck*ng under the near-Antarctic
> moon.
Near-Antarctic Moon? Cool!
Sure, why not. Go for that proposal!
> My big decision this week is where to go for lunch
> with the bf on Tuesday.
It sounds like a tough week.
[--snip unhomo bunny killing--]
> Or we could go to "Top Chef" winner Ilan Hall's
> first LA restaurant, The Gorbals, which serves
> flights of fanciful Scottish-Jewish food (the place
> is named after Glasgow's Jewish ghetto,
> apparently).
Two issues with that. The first is that he had no
business even being in the competition. They should
have tossed his ass at the Firehouse challenge, when
he was supposed to make an entree but offered up a wimpy
side dish instead.
Secondly, he was a one-note-wonder, and that note
was SPANISH cuisine. From the first episode to the
last, he never strolled outside of his specialty.
Even for the finale, when he had no choice but to
use local ingredients, he simply applied his Spanish
recipes to what he was given.
So, Scottish-Jewish food from a guy that only knows
how to cook Spanish cuisine? *BLECH*!
If you think about it, it would be pretty gut wrenching
even if he knew what he was doing. I mean, two hours
later, tops, and you'd be staring at your food again.
Some of it might be "Up" for a return visit within minutes.
> I suppose we could go for stewed goat meat tacos
> somewhere, but that seems so, I don't know, Lindsay
> Lohan.
You should never allow Entertainment Tonight to
influence your decision making process.
Food -- even dead goats -- is far too important a
subject to leave to Lindsay Lohan.
> Oh, these decisions. They're driving me mad.
Clearly it's taken it's toll. You need to relax,
take your mind off of things... maybe hide Ken's
remote... AND STOP CHANNELING LINDSAY LOHAN!
JTEM
Kathryn <pi...@pacifier.com> wrote:
> The point is,
The point is, you're in another thread promoting
"Discussion" on the con stuff on Mybook or whatever,
yet you're here trying to squash discussion.
Well, I'd kind of like to see people defend their
con proposal in light of socio-political-economic
realities. I'd kind of like people to NOT pretend
that we live in a perfect world, or that homos are
helpless, or, anyways, completely free from any
responsibility for shaping their own goddamn future.
Kathryn
I see. You don't actually care where we go, or what we do. Meta-
discuss away, nothing I've said squashes that. If you care about what
actually *happens*, that will take another proposal for people to vote
on.
JTEM
Kathryn <pi...@pacifier.com> wrote:
> I see. You don't actually care where
Again, you're in another thread INVITING discussion
even as you actively attempt to squash it here. Such
self-contradictory behavior should be worrisome.
Anyhow, this is NOT a new issue for me. It is
something I have brought up several times in the
recent past, one of those occasions being in reply
to mention of Florida some three weeks ago.
Times are tough. The economy sucks. The gay dollar
has more power than ever. Your choices do matter.
You are not powerless. You can make a difference.
All these things are true whether you shout them
down or not. Personally, I'm going to continue
discussion these issue regardless of how violently
you respond to discussion... as you call for it.