North Beach Buzz

Jim Morrison lives! Jim Morrison, the artist, that is… you’ve seen his work, “A Celebration of Life” at the Julia Tuttle Causeway Gateway Entrance to Miami Beach. He came up with the bright idea of ringing neon in rainbow colors around the trunks of palm trees. A total of 48 halos circle individual palm trees in a six-acre grove that lights up the night in neon.

A brilliant use of space on the beach by any stretch of the imagination, Morrison is a lighting designer and gifted avant-garde fine artist. Professing his love affair with art and architecture, he reveals the desire to create the ultimate fantasy lighting to showcase some of our newer and as-yet-to-be-built entertainment complexes. Elevating light to a high art, Morrison explores innovative special effects with both light and color. Installed in 1997, the Art in Public Places piece literally stops traffic on the busy overpass to Alton Road as tourists pull over to photograph it. When I checked with Morrison about how the piece weathered the winds of our last three hurricanes back-to-back, he revealed he only had to change three lights. Experimenting with ways to push the glow factor into warp speed, Morrison puts a magical spin on a trio of exterior walls at the Miami-Dade College Medical Campus in the Jackson Memorial Complex. “Enlightenment” is a playground for Morrison’s light fantastic. He describes it as “sweeping lines of neon and painted aluminum plates arranged on three facades of the building facing north and west.” With the addition of multi-colored metal components, the sculpture is highly visible during daylight hours. At night, it pops. Calling all ocean front developers! Have a development, bridge or architectural wonder that needs eye-popping pizzazz? Give Jim Morrison a call at 305-651-7873 or contact him through his website at www.whoisthisguy.com. Shine on!

“A Celebration of Life” light sculpture at the Julia Tuttle Causeway Gateway Entrance to Miami Beach.

CLOCK THE VOTE

Okay, so it only took me an hour to vote on Election Day. I cannot see me standing in line for six hours to vote early, thank you very much. As it was, my precinct was on the ball as usual, the line moved quickly and I was home in an hour. The consensus of opinion among early morning voters standing in line at the North Beach polling place of Biscayne Elementary School at 7 a.m. is that Nicolette Sheridan (you know, the Knots Landing alumni?) finally has a role in which she rules. Strictly unofficial as popularity polls go, the ABC series Desperate Housewives is a showcase for the statuesque blonde I interviewed at the Raleigh Hotel. Who knew that sex in the suburbs and middle-aged mamas could be so hot? Audiences are paying attention according to the group in my line. Eight women and three men pretty much agreed with ratings experts that the show is the best thing going, next to ABC’s LOST, which better get busy with some more action on that little island or they’re going to lose their audience.

Nicolette Sheridan of ABC’s Desperate Housewives in front of Miami Beach’s “Most Beautiful Pool” at the Raleigh Hotel. Photo: Bridget Duvall-Kennedy

Not much to chat about while waiting the hour it took to cast my ballot, but a few conversations were interesting. Some thought online voting would be nice. Many in line commented that we are lucky not to be dodging bullets or shrapnel from exploding bombs while we exercise our freedom to vote. Brings a whole new meaning to P. Diddy’s “Vote or Die” battle cry silk-screened on my college son’s t-shirt. As an Army brat who grew up on military bases in Europe and the Far East, I know the human sacrifice that paid the ultimate price for our freedoms and vote my convictions religiously. In the words of General Colin Powell, “Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.”

Keep those cards and letters coming and be sure to send information regarding all your news that’s fit to print directly to me at northbeachbuzz@yahoo.com.


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